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TechnoratiCandidates open campaigning for Guinea's presidential run-off
Campaigning for the second round of elections kicked off in Guinea on Sunday, with Cellou Dalein Diallo running against veteran opposition leader Alpha Condé. Diallo won over 40 per cent of the first-round ballot in June, which was marred by multiple accusations of fraud.
Despite tensions over the election process, both candidates signed an agreement on Friday commiting themselves to a peaceful political campaign ahead of the vote on 19 September.
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In Conakry, correspondent Karim Kamara says the campaigning has got off to a steady start.
Diallo, who flew back to Guinea from Burkina Faso on Saturday, has appealed to his supporters to respect their rivals and protect the electoral process, Kamara says.
Diallo's supporters have taken to the streets, he reports, but so far there have been no incidents of violence.
But with Condé returning to Guinea on Monday, it is not clear what will happen when the two camps meet, Kamara says.
The candidates |
 Cellou Dalein Diallo (L) andt Alpha Condé (R) Reuters |
Cellou Dalein Diallo, 58, was prime minister several times under General Lansana Conté, who ruled for 24 years after coming to power in a military coup in 1984; he is a member of the Fulani ethnic group; his strongholds are middle-Guinea and the capital, Conakry. Alpha Condé, 73, is a third-time candidate who has opposed all three heads of state since independence, spending two and a half years in jail under Conté and sentenced to death in absentia by first president Ahmed Sekou Touré in 1970; he is a member of the Malinké ethnic group; his stronghold is Upper Guinea.
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