Guinea-Conakry Presidential Election : Alpha Conde To Stand For A Third Term

Guinea's President Alpha Conde will be candidate for a third term in the next Presidential elections scheduled for October 18, 2020. The announcement was made public on Monday by the party. The decision by the 82-year-old to seek a third term in office has brought to an end months of speculation and a possible spark in deadly mass protests. 
"President Alpha Conde will indeed be our candidate in the presidential election," said the statement from the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG), read out on television. The party had formally nominated him to run again back in August, but Conde had made no formal response.
He instead told delegates that the RPG must pledge to help women, the young and the poor before he would agree to stand for election. 
Under Guinea’s constitution presidents may only serve two terms. But according to analysts, the new constitution could reset the presidential term counter and enable him to run a third time a view now confirmed by the RPG.
Opposition figures were at the forefront of a protest movement against the constitutional referendum in March and unsuccessfully tried to organize a boycott. Mass rallies have been held for nearly a year to oppose the possibility of Conde seeking a third mandate. Security forces repeatedly cracked down on the protests, killing several dozen civilians.
Alpha Conde elected president in 2010 and again i...