POLITICAL LEADER SIDYA TOURE SAYS GUINEANS ARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000462 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC GV SUBJECT: POLITICAL LEADER SIDYA TOURE SAYS GUINEANS ARE "PLAYING" WHEN IT COMES TO ELECTIONS REF: CONAKRY 0447 Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) Opposition leader Sidya Toure, head of the Union of Republican Forces (UFR),told A/DCM on August 3 that he has the impression "we (Guineans) are just playing." He said the CNDD is not serious about elections and the electoral timeline is generally being ignored. However, he seemed to feel that Les Forces Vives, and its member political and social actors, have been working effectively to push the process forward. For Sidya, it all boils down to a question of political will on the part of the CNDD, which he ultimately finds lacking. ¶2. (C) Sidya stated that Guinea needs to focus on organizing presidential elections in December, arguing that legislative elections could afford to wait for several months after presidential elections. "It really boils down to the simple question of whether or not we want to end this military transition - if we want to end it, we need to have presidential elections," Sidya said. He added that if legislative elections take precedence, the country will still be stuck with the CNDD because the military will not turn the government over to a newly elected legislature. "With a presidential election, the CNDD will have no choice but to step down," he argued. ¶3. (C) In response to a question about political alliances, Sidya said that his UFR party has not formally aligned with any other political party, but that he shares the "same ideas" as opposition leaders Francois Fall (FUDEC) and Ousmane Bah (UPR). He added that while these parties had discussed the idea of a formal alliance, they will most likely keep the relationship informal, but expect to support each other in the polls. For example, if UFR is represented in a specific voting district, but FUDEC and UPR are not, those parties' supporters could vote for the UFR. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) Sidya seemed comfortable with the progress made by Les Forces Vives and the International Contact Group with respect to elections. However, he was still fairly pessimistic about the possibility of elections by the end of 2009, and gave the impression that if elections do not happen, the blame will clearly lie with the CNDD. Sidya acknowledged potential delays, such as the National Transition Council (CNT) (reftel),but dismissed these issues as relatively unimportant, claiming that everything is still essentially on schedule. Sidya's views seem to be at odds with those of some other Forces Vives members with whom Embassy officers have recently spoken (septels). Elections are still up in the air, but some contacts are placing some of the blame (and frustration) with the Forces Vives as well as the CNDD. END COMMENT. BROKENSHIRE