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.

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COMMENT
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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