afrol News, 16 March - Guinean officials have urged the ruling military junta to hold elections by the end of the year, saying the elections will put democratically elected leaders replacing the junta that took power in a bloodless coup last December.

However, the coup leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara’s National Council for Democracy and Development had planned to hold elections by 2010, a date widely criticised by international organisations, including the United Sates and the European Union.

Local news reports said the proposed election dates were pushed forward by a coalition made up of Guinean political parties, civil society groups and trades union movements, who long for democratic rules.

In January, the United States said it was suspending aid to Guinea if the military junta does not return to civilian rule.

The US signed an agreement with the Guinean government in September to reinforce democratic governance in the country through the organisation of free and transparent elections, as well as other measures.

Captain Camara seized power on 23 December 2008 after the death of President Lansana Conte who ruled the country for more than two decades. Mr Conte, who died in December aged of 74, had ruled Guinea for almost 25 years, since taking power in a military coup in 1984.

While Mr Conté ruled Guinea with an iron hand, allowing no real opposition, the country remained an island of relative stability in an otherwise troubled region, where brutal war ravaged neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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