AFRICA/GUINEA - Mali delegate appointed President of Electoral Commission

Conakry (Agenzia Fides) - “The decision to appoint a Malian as President of the National Electoral Commission (INEC) will help overcome the impasse that had arisen,” Fides learned from a source from the local Church in Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, Transition President Sékouba Konaté appointed Malian General Siaka Toumani Sangaré as President of INEC.
The INEC was chaired by Louncény Camara (who remains one of the two Vice-Chairmen of the Commission), who was contested by one of two candidates for the presidential ballot on October 24, Cellou Dalein Diallo, considered close to his rival, Alpha Conde.
Tuesday, October 19, Diallo supporters staged violent demonstrations in the capital to demand the removal of Louncény Camara. In the clashes with the police and security guards, at least two people died (however the source of Fides is unable to confirm this news) and several others wounded. "With the appointment of a foreigner as President of the INEC, the Transition President has removed the main argument used by Diallo to incite his supporters to protest," said our source. "Now we should make a consideration: as the President of the “Comité de suivi et de l'évaluation des actes préparatoires du second tour” (a committee that controls the preparatory acts of the runoff), is a foreigner (Burkina Faso's General Aly Traoré), the appointment of a Malian to head the committee to guarantee the election demonstrates that Guinean politics is still struggling to rid itself of the scourge of ethnicity."
Our source continues: "However, this does not mean we should not continue to trust in the democratic process underway in Guinea, although it still has to be accompanied so as to bring about the conditions necessary for a political vision that is free from the constraints imposed by ethnic ties."
The parties of the two presidential candidates, Diallo and Condé, said they were satisfied with the appointment of the new President of INEC. The last obstacle in carrying out the vote is the release by the Central Bank of the funds needed by INEC in order to organize the election. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 20/10/2010)