Former prime minister challenges Conte for presidency

Former prime minister Sidya Toure has announced plans to stand against ailing President Lansana Conte in presidential elections due in December. Toure is widely considered to be the most popular leader of Guinea's divided opposition and is fondly remembered by many people as the man who led the country through a period of relative prosperity while he served as prime minister and finance minister from 1996 to 1999. After his dismissal by Conte, Toure founded his own party, the Union of Republican Forces (UFR), which nominated him as its presidential candidate at a convention at the weekend. However, in his acceptance speech on Saturday, the former economist hinted that the opposition was still undecided whether to take part in the poll, which according to government sources will be held on 21 December. "What remains now is for us to negotiate the conditions under which the election will be conducted," Toure said. "We in the opposition, as a united front, are bent on ensuring that we have maximum transparency, that our voices be recognised, that we have the necessary observers in place and we have an electoral commission of a calibre that we continue to struggle for." Toure's UFG forms part of an alliance of six opposition parties called the Republican Front for Democratic Change (FRAD), which is demanding free opposition access to Guinea's state-controlled radio and television and the creation of a genuinely independent electoral commission to supervise the vote. The government has been conducting an on-off dialogue with the opposition over such demands for several months, but has yet to make any hard and fast concessions. It is not yet clear whether any other mainstream opposition leaders intend to stand against Conte, a former army colonel who has ruled this former French colony with an iron hand since he came to power in a 1984 coup. Veteran oppposition leader Alpha Conde is technically banned from standing as a presidential candidate following his conviction on treason charges in 2001. In his acceptance speech, Toure played heavily on Guinea's economic decline in recent years. He blamed this on misrule by Conte and rampant corruption within his government. Toure pointed out that when he was dismissed as prime minister four years ago, the government received US $500 million in revenue each year, but now its income had since fallen to half that. The country's economic decline was forcing thousands of Guineans to seek their fortune abroad, he added. Speculation continues regarding the health of Conte, who left for Cuba last Wednesday on a private visit, apparently to seek medical treatment. Diplomats say the 69-year-old president suffers from diabetes and a heart problem and often has difficulty walking. Last month, a conference of the ruling Party of Unity and Progress (PUP) unanimously nominated Conte as its presidential candidate, but the head of state warned the meeting in his acceptance speech that he would not take any active part in the election campaign. Diplomats say that even if Conte is re-elected, his health is now so fragile that it is unlikely he would be able to serve the full seven-year presidential term.