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Guinea has renewed its suspension of one of the country’s main opposition parties less than two weeks before its presidential vote, which junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya is expected to win.
Doumbouya has ruled the West African nation since seizing power in 2021. Despite his initial promise to hand leadership back to civilians, he backtracked and is running for office in the December 28 poll.
At the end of August, Guinean authorities suspended the opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and several other parties for 90 days. UFDG’s exiled head, Cellou Dalein Diallo, is also disqualified from running in the election under a new constitution adopted in September, which requires presidential candidates to have their primary residence in the country.
Guinea’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MATD) said in a statement dated Tuesday that documents the party had submitted were “carefully reviewed” and were found to have “substantial deficiencies”.
The party now faces “a strict deadline of six (6) months, starting November 25, 2025, to bring its political organisation into full compliance with the new legal provisions”, or face loss of its legal status.
Among the complaints MATD cited in extending the suspension was UFDG’s failure to hold a party congress since 2015. However, authorities earlier this year banned the UFDG from having an extraordinary congress. The country’s Supreme Court later held up the ban.
Guinean authorities have not commented on the status of the two other parties suspended in August.
The country’s opposition has called for a boycott of the election, in which voters will choose between nine candidates, including Doumbouya, who is running as an independent. His rivals are mainly unknown to the general public, with the leading opposition figures barred from running.
Doumbouya’s military-run government has banned all demonstrations since 2022, and has arrested, prosecuted or pushed into exile several opposition leaders. Meanwhile, reports of enforced disappearances and kidnappings have increased in recent years.
