Keypoints:
- 89 percent back new constitution
- Allows Doumbouya potential 2025 run
- Opposition questions turnout figures
GUINEA’S provisional results show a decisive 89.38 percent of voters supported a new constitution that could allow junta leader Mamady Doumbouya to run for president, according to official figures announced late Tuesday. Territorial administration minister Ibrahima Kalil Conde said turnout reached 86.42 percent of the 6.7 million registered voters, though the Constitutional Court must still certify the results.
Charter paves way for presidential bid
The new charter replaces the transitional framework that barred members of the ruling military junta from standing in national elections. While Doumbouya has not declared his intentions, the measure clears the way for him to compete in a presidential vote expected in December 2025.
Key institutional changes include extending presidential terms from five to seven years, renewable once, and creating a new Senate to broaden legislative oversight.
Strong turnout despite boycott calls
Opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo and ex-president Alpha Conde—both currently suspended from political activity—had urged citizens to boycott the referendum. Yet provisional figures showed 5,951,807 voters participated nationwide. Many residents told local media they wanted to move beyond years of military rule.
Opposition politicians disputed the official turnout, calling it ‘abnormally high’ compared with their own observations at polling stations.
Background of military rule
Doumbouya, a former army officer, seized power in 2021 in a coup that ended Conde’s decade-long presidency. Guinea, home to the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, became one of eight West and Central African nations to experience a military takeover between 2020 and 2023.
The new constitution signals a turning point for the mineral-rich nation as it approaches a critical election year, with international observers watching closely for the Constitutional Court’s final confirmation of the vote.
