Guinea’s opposition leader, Cellou Dalein Diallo declared Monday, without waiting for official results, that he had won a presidential election against incumbent Alpha Conde, who is seeking a controversial third term.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Conakry a day after the hotly contested first-round vote, Diallo said he had emerged victorious despite anomalies which marred the ballot.
Although polling day was mostly calm, Diallo’s self-proclaimed election victory has set the stage for a showdown with Conde.
The government insists that Sunday’s vote was fair and that the official electoral authority must declare the results.
Conde’s RPG party said in a statement Monday that it condemned with utmost firmness the early declaration by Diallo.
The party called for its activists to remain calm.
Bakary Mansare, the vice-president of Guinea’s electoral authority, also told newsmen that Diallo’s self-proclaimed victory was “null and void”.
