The ruling party and opposition last month sealed a deal on the organisation of the vote, raising hopes it would pass off peacefully, but opposition parties say Conde has reneged on that agreement.
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The decree also rules out the possibility of postponing the election as demanded by a few opposition leaders.
On Thursday, clashes erupted between supporters of incumbent President Alpha Conde, and leading opposition rival Cellou Dalein Diallo near Madina market in the capital, Conakry, said General Ibrahima Balde, Guinea’s gendarmerie chief-of-staff. “Otherwise, we will not accept the results and I will mobilise along with all the other candidates and the population to reject it”, Diallo told crowds that welcomed him from the campaign trail in Conakry on Thursday.
Clashes broke out Thursday afternoon between supporters of Conde – a few of them wearing his campaign colour yellow, despite a presidential order to avoid any provocation ahead of the elections – and Diallo’s green-and-white clad backers.
“We are really concerned by the situation which prevails especially in Conakry”, Chambas said.
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.
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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.
