Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CONAKRY1090
2007-10-01 14:51:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Conakry
Cable title:  

GUINEA'S NEWEST POLITICAL PARTY - REPRESENTING

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM GV 
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VZCZCXRO3466
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #1090/01 2741451
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011451Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1699
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 001090 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM GV
SUBJECT: GUINEA'S NEWEST POLITICAL PARTY - REPRESENTING
OPPOSITION YOUTH


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 001090

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM GV
SUBJECT: GUINEA'S NEWEST POLITICAL PARTY - REPRESENTING
OPPOSITION YOUTH



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Guinea,s newest political party is a
multi-ethnic party of youth, according to party founders.
Claiming about 1000 members, the party plans to participate
in the upcoming legislative elections with the goal of
winning at least five National Assembly seats. Party leaders
denounced recent rumors of linkages with Prime Minister
Lansana Kouyate although they indicated that the party may
ultimately support his administration. The party is closely
tied to the Guinean diaspora in the U.S. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On September 26, poloff met with three officers of
Guinea,s newest political party, La Convergence des
Patriotes de Guinea (CPG): Kandas Conde, Vice President;
Keita Sekou Nasser, Treasurer; and Kante Alpha Kabinet,
Secretary.

SIPDIS

--------------
FIRST NEW POLITICAL PARTY IN A DECADE
--------------


3. (SBU) When the Government of Guinea (GoG) legalized
political parties in 1992, 45 different parties registered.
A few years later, another party joined the list, bringing
the total number of registered political parties to 46. In
September, the assistant director of the office responsible
for political parties at the Ministry of Interior and
Security (MIS),told poloff that the CPG had been officially
registered as a full-fledged political party, making it the
first new political party in the country in more than a
decade.

--------------
WE ARE FOR THE YOUTH
--------------


4. (SBU) According to the party,s vice president, Kandas
Conde, the party was formed because its founders noticed that
nearly all of Guinea,s existing political parties were
organized along ethnic lines. In addition, they did not see
any party that adequately represented Guinea,s younger
population. Our main purpose, Conde said, is to present a
multi-ethnic, youth-based option. With respect to the
upcoming legislative elections, Conde said that the CPG plans
to participate and hopes to win at least five seats in the
National Assembly.

--------------
LINKS TO THE U.S.
--------------


5. (SBU) The CPG,s President, Dr. Billy Allarynn Keita, age
42, has been living in New York City since 1996 (Note: Keita
may be either a U.S. citizen or a green card holder, but

party representatives were not certain of his status). Keita
is also a member of the Community Guinean, a diaspora
organization in the U.S. Conde said that the idea of the CPG
party was born in Philadelphia in 2000 among members of the
Guinean diaspora. It took the party five years to finalize
its mission statement and paperwork, which it then submitted
to MIS.

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BUILDING MEMBERSHIP
--------------


6. (SBU) Conde stated that the party is in the process of
increasing membership and estimated current support at around
1000 members. He added that the CPG is represented not only
in Conakry, but in several cities throughout the country
including Coyah, Kindia, Kouroussa and Kissidougou. Party
supporters are almost exclusively young Guineans, under the
age of 40, according to Conde. Most of these are either
students or university-educated, he said. (Note: Conde
himself is a professor of political science at the university
in Conakry).


7. (SBU) The CPG has already identified a building to serve
as party headquarters and is in the process of refurbishing
it, Conde said. He added that most of the party,s financing
comes from the party president and members of the Guinean
diaspora in the U.S.

--------------
WE ARE NOT KOUYATE'S PARTY
--------------


8. (SBU) Conde described the party as ¢rist
opposition8 with the objective of working positively with
the government in order to improve the country,s economic
and political situation. He added that the CPG supports the

CONAKRY 00001090 002 OF 002


current government, under the leadership of Prime Minister
Lansana Kouyate, but if progress is not made, the party could
become more extreme in its opposition platform.


9. (SBU) Recent press reports have linked the CPG with
Kouyate, claiming that the party is in fact Kouyate,s
creation as he attempts to build political support for a
possible presidential bid in 2010. Conde said that the party
is not linked to Kouyate at all and in fact, the idea was
born in 2000, long before Kouyate was involved in politics.
In an interview with a local internet news agency,
Guinea24.com, CPG President Keita said unequivocally that the
party is not in any way linked to Kouyate, nor to any other
current political figure. However, Conde told poloff that if
the Prime Minister requested it, the party would likely
support him as long as he continues to do his job.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (SBU) There is some question as to whether the CPG is
actually legal. Guinean law requires that the first four
executives of the party be from each of the main ethnic
groups (Malinke, Soussou, Peuhl, and one from a Forest Region
tribe). While party representatives claimed that the CPG is
a multi-ethnic party, all three of those who spoke to poloff
as well as the party president, are Malinke. In addition,
although the assistant director at MIS says the party is
legal, the director of that office did not appear to know
anything about it. Some contacts, including within the
ruling Party for Unity and Progress, are questioning whether
proper legal procedures were followed.


11. (SBU) While party leaders say the party is not linked to
Kouyate, there are several natural connections that could
bring them together. Kouyate is Malinke, as are all four of
the Embassy,s party contacts. The CPG is represented in
Kouroussa and well supported there, according to Conde, which
is Kouyate,s hometown. In addition, Kouyate just finished a
visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly, during which
time he also reportedly met with the Community Guinean, the
diaspora organization from which the CPG sprung. END COMMENT.
CARTER