UNION LEADER APPOINTED HEAD OF CNT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000091 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2021 TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: UNION LEADER APPOINTED HEAD OF CNT REF: A. CONAKRY 00077 ¶B. 09 CONAKRY 00447 Classified By: Ambassador Patricia Moller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) In the first appointment under the Premiership of Jean Marie Dore, union leader Hadja Rabiatou Diallo was named President of the National Transition Council (CNT). Rabiatou has publicly lobbied for the position since Jean Marie Dore was appointed the sole Prime Minister of the transition (reftel A). Monsignor Gomez, a well respected religious figure, was appointed as her first VP. The announcement came at a time where Guineans and the international community alike are questioning the ability of Dore to appoint his government in a timely manner as well as to adhere to the stipulations of the Ouagadougou Agreement. ¶2. (C) According to the Ouagadougou Agreement that officially created the CNT in the transition government, the 101 person CNT should be led by a religious leader and should be a deliberating political body that would be comprised of all components of Guinean society. Despite the fact that the appointment of Rabiatou does not comply with the stipulations of the agreement, there has been no outcry by the Forces Vives or the GOG about her appointment. According to private comments by political leaders like Francois Fall, Mouctar Diallo, and Sidya Toure, Rabiatou was given the position as a way to keep her "out of the way" and supportive of the transition process. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (U) The composition, mandate, and utility of the CNT has been debated since March, 2009 when the Forces Vives posited the idea to Dadis as a check on CNDD power (reftel B). In the following months, Dadis signed two decrees implementing the CNT, though the Council never got off the ground due to infighting over the specific mandate of the commission. The CNDD, most notably Moussa Keita, argued that the Council should be used as a tool of the government's election plans while the Forces Vives argued mainly that the CNT should be an independent body used as a counterweight to the CNDD. ¶4. (C) Now, however, the debate over the composition and mandate of the Council seems to have subsided. While the mandate of the CNT continues to be unclear, leaders generally seem to have accepted that the CNT will act as an advisory body to the transition in its preparation for elections. The Council's mandate will also reportedly last until elections are completed. In July of last year, the CNT was only given a mandate of 30 days. ¶5. (C) Despite considerable attention and energy paid to the creation of the CNT under the CNDD, underlying issues were never resolved and the Council was never appointed. While Rabiatou is a powerful figure within the unions and the Forces Vives, she is unlikely to handle the job of CNT President well. She has little experience in politics and has been a divisive figure both due to her strong ethnic-based agenda and, most recently, her failure to work with political members of the Forces Vives and within the unions. Although she refers to herself as a "neutral" party in the transition government, she is likely to bring her own agenda to the table that may delay elections. Regardless of leadership, the CNT itself may act as a hindrance to elections, as it creates yet another layer through which the process must pass. Moller