Guinea postpones elections, referendum set for March 1

DAKAR, Senegal

Guinean President Alpha Conde postponed Friday a constitutional referendum and general election slated for March 1.

“With national and sub-regional responsibilities, we agreed to a small delay on the date of the election,” Conde said during a televised interview without specifying a new date.

The referendum on a constitutional amendment would let voters decide if Conde could serve a third term.

A coalition of Guinean opposition groups announced in October that 10 protesters were killed, 70 wounded and 200 arrested in protests against a possible constitutional change to allow Conde to run for a third term or even a fourth.

The current constitution, adopted nine years ago, allows the president to run for two five-year terms.

With Conde's current term set to end in December 2020, civil society groups, trade unions, and opposition parties joined forces against Conde changing the constitution.

Guinea's current demonstration ban began in July 2018, as the government faced a series of protests by opposition political parties, civil society groups, and unions over allegedly fraudulent elections, a fuel price increase and the government’s failure to resolve a longstanding teachers’ strike.

''Many of these protests resulted in incidents of violence between the protesters and the security forces,'' according to Human Rights Watch.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur