The polls, which opened at 07:00 GMT on Sunday and will close at 18:00 GMT, will have 6.7 million registered voters registered.
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As former prime minister and opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo and ousted president Alpha Conde continue to rule in exile, the 41-year-old faces eight other candidates in the election.
According to World Bank figures, the opposition has demanded a boycott of the election in the mineral-rich nation where 52% of the population lives in poverty.
Guinea’s first freely elected president, Alpha Conde, was elected as the country’s first democratic transition after a long coup that had been a result. In September 2021, Doumbouya threw him.
Guinea has effectively “reverted to authoritarian regimes, whether civilian or military,” according to Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi, under the leadership of Doumbouya.
According to Djenabou Toure, the General Directorate of Elections head, provisional results could be made within two days.
restrictions on opposition
Under Doumbouya, political debate has been muted. His government is accused of stifling protests, restricting press freedom, and restricting opposition activity by civil society organizations.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk stated on Friday that the campaign period had been “severely restricted, marked by intimidation of opposition actors, apparently politically motivated enforced disappearances, and restrictions on media freedom.”
He continued, “the risk is that these circumstances could undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process.”
Diallo, the opposition leader, has criticized the election as “an electoral charade” intended to legitimize “the planned confiscation of power.”
Guinea’s new constitution was approved in a referendum in September, which the opposition called for boycott.
The new document made it possible for military leaders to run for office, allowing Doumbouya’s candidacy.
Additionally, it increased the terms of office from five to seven and allows for one-year renewables.
“Hope things will be resolved.”
After years of delay, Guinea officially opened its largest bauxite reserves last month and is home to the richest untapped iron ore deposit in the world.
Doumbouya deserves praise for advancing the project and guaranteeing Guinea benefits from its output. Following a refinery dispute, his government’s administration also revoked Guinea Alumina Corporation’s licence this year and handed over its assets to a state-owned company.
His popularity has increased as has his youth in a nation where the median age is around 19 and the trend toward resource nationalism, which is echoed in Mali, Burkinabe, and Niger.
Doumbouya offers the chance to bring the old political class to retirement, according to Conakry mechanic Mohamed Kaba.
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Source: Aljazeera
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