Guinea president says weekend election to go ahead

Late on Friday, the constitutional court, which is the election’s highest authority, also rejected a request by seven opposition leaders who had argued that the election should be postponed by at least a week to rectify irregularities.

“We will not participate in a sham election. What we hope for are free and transparent elections, and above all credible so that the results will be accepted by everyone”.

“These people trust me, I will be worthy of their trust”, he said, as his supporters blocked the main road through the capital for tens of kilometres.

Guinea’s opposition candidates said Tuesday they would participate in the first round of the October 11 presidential election, while cautioning that “dysfunctional” aspects of the voting process must be addressed.

Tension remained high in the capital, Conakry, after the clashes, with ethnic tension on the rise though the weeks-long campaign for the election has been largely peaceful.

Conakry residents later reported looting and the sounds of gunshots in a few parts of the city.

Police fired tear after five were wounded in the violence, which saw cars torched and both sides pelting each other with stones.

In a different account, however, Guinea’s Interior Minister Mahmoud Cisse said that according to hospital sources one person had died and 20 had been injured.

His challengers have asked for the vote to be delayed, citing problems with voter distribution cards and the inclusion of minors on the electoral register. The country has a history of electoral violence that experts worry will return with the upcoming vote.