Polls closed in Guinea on Sunday, to fears of a looming electoral dispute, after a high-stakes vote in which the 82-year-old President Alpha Conde is seeking a controversial third term.
The election — the first in a string across West Africa — follows months of political unrest, where dozens of people have been killed during security crackdowns on mass anti-Conde protests.
Polls closed at 1800 GMT after a mostly calm day of voting, but there are already fears of post-election discord after Conde’s main opposition rival, Cellou Dalein Diallo, suggested the president may “cheat”.
“Alpha Conde cannot abandon his desire to grant himself a presidency for life,” Diallo told reporters on Sunday, warning his rival not to take power using “cunning and violence”.
Before counting began, his supporters decried ballot-box stuffing and said its observers encountered obstructions at polling stations. Guinea’s Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana told local press there had been “small incidents here and there”, but nothing major.
The results aren’t expected for several days.
Political tensions during the campaign have also raised the spectre of ethnic strife, with Conde accused of exploiting divisions for electoral ends — a charge he denies.
Guinea’s politics are mainly drawn along ethnic lines: the president’s base is mostly from the ethnic Malinke community and Diallo’s from the Fulani people.
Security Minister Albert Damantang Camara told AFP there had been “no major incidents” on Sunday, but that he was concerned about suggestions that Diallo would not accept the result.
He urged him to “return to his senses”.
