The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat announced in a statement published Friday on his website, the recall of the mission sent to Guinea to observe the legislative elections and referendum scheduled for Sunday, March 1.
“The position of the continental organization aligned, under the principle of subsidiarity, with that of the regional organization, in this case ECOWAS, leads to reconsider the maintenance of the African Union observer mission already in place,” explained Faki Mahamat, noting that it is “as a result of all these facts” that the recall of the mission was taken.
It is also justified, according to the Chadian diplomat, “by the recent pre-election developments in the Republic of Guinea characterized by the continuation of a strong controversy on the electoral register and the impossibility of deploying the good offices mission composed of four ECOWAS Heads of State.”
Before the AU, the European Union and ECOWAS had recalled their election observation missions in this West African country led since 2010 by Alpha Condé. The latter is facing a popular protest because of a plan to run for a third term in the organisation of the referendum, which would effectively amend the constitution.
Expressing concern about this situation, Mahamat also stressed that “the Commission of the African Union remains fully prepared, in consultation with ECOWAS, and in solidarity with the government and all political and social actors in Guinea, to accompany the electoral process in this country in accordance with the principles of the organization that governs election observation in Africa.”
However, the authorities in Conakry have not yet reacted to these various announcements, less than 48 hours before the double voting.
SD/odl/te/lb/abj/APA