Following years of discouraging setbacks, democracy may finally be emerging as a credible reality for the West African state of Guinea. More than half a century after two destructive dictatorships and the disappointing tenure of interim President Dadis Camara, a new transitional government led by Interim President General Sékouba Konaté is committed to seeing through the country’s first democratic elections since it gained independence from France in 1958. IFES’s involvement at key levels of government and efforts to support this process have been, and will continue to be, integral to Guinea’s progress toward democratization.

Guinea’s current 34-member interim government, under the newly-appointed leadership of Prime Minister Jean-Marie Doré, was established following last year’s assassination attempt on and subsequent departure of President Dadis Camara, head of the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD). The new government is faced with picking up the pieces of the former junta regime’s economic and political mismanagement, rampant corruption, and failure to carry out democratic elections as promised. The international community is now cautiously optimistic, as this is not the first time Guinea’s transitional leadership has assured a commitment to constitutional order. In order to help maintain stability within the junta, Konaté named a few junta members and close acquaintances of Camara, some with questionable backgrounds, as members of his cabinet and government. All the main structures of the transition, a government of national unity and a National Council of Transition, in lieu of an elected national assembly, are in place. The latter should be working to revise the constitution and provide the electoral process with a legal framework, timely objectives that could delay the country’s first-ever democratic elections. Furthermore, tangential problems persist, such as regional social unrest and a frustrated and impoverished army composed of hardcore delinquents, which Sékouba Konaté is repeatedly putting at bay.

Despite potential challenges, organized democratic elections, accountability, and improved governance appear more plausible now than in previous years. The Ouagadougou Joint Declaration signed January 15 between former junta leader Dadis Camara, his successor Général Sékouba Konaté and mediator Blaise Compaoré, clearly defines as the new administration’s key mandate the organization of presidential elections within six months. IFES is helping to advance this and related goals during this delicate phase of transition. Until his appointment as Minister of State responsible for Foreign Affairs, Bakary Fofana had served as IFES’s director of programs, and at least ten government departments are headed by individuals connected with IFES. Furthermore, over $3.5 million in USAID and European Union funding is supporting IFES’s provision of technical assistance to election management bodies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and the Ministry of the Interior. With this funding, IFES is also working to leverage key civil society groups, including media, women, youth groups and individuals with disabilities, to the electoral process. To this end, the European Commission has asked the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to sign a memorandum of agreement with IFES to carry out specific capacity building activities including the training of security forces, state officials, and the establishment of a civil society led elections observatory.

Additionally, in partnership with the global peace building consortium BEFORE, based at swisspeace in Switzerland, IFES initiated research on such issues as the valorization and reintegration of the armed forces, the Supreme Court and the National Assembly which will be used to guide the new government and transition structures. This partnership will enable IFES to engage in important peace-building efforts at both the regional and international levels, including supporting inter-youth dialogue platforms to keep heated spirits at bay in Guinea’s Forest Region, and participation with the UN-EU-US sponsored Security Sector Reform (SSR).

Two-round Guinean 2010 Presidential elections initially scheduled for January 31 have now been postponed to June 27 and July 18, while Parliamentary elections, planned for March 16, 2010, have yet to be scheduled. Election campaigns for the presidential polls are expected to begin May 17, although major party leaders have already started to mobilize militants. President Konaté has assured Guineans that neither he nor leading members of the transitional government will run in June’s elections. This decision will help ensure that elections are free and transparent and that future power rests with civilians rather than the military, a scenario strongly supported by Guinea’s civil society, as well as the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations. Under present circumstances, it appears hopeful that Guinean citizens may finally experience their first free and fair election and begin the long haul leading to a country characterized by justice, accountability, and security. IFES continues to stand at the ready, prepared to assist at all levels with the necessary guidance and resources to advance Guinea’s return to constitutional rule.