Alpha Conde, the president of Guinea, has enacted a new constitution after the people approved of the referendum in voting held last month, reported Eye Witness News.
President Conde enacted the new charter by decree on Monday and on the same day he also approved a 292 million euro ($315m) “economic response plan” to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Conde’s opponents feared that the referendum was aimed at extending his time in office. The new constitution still limits the president to two terms, but the opposition accused the president of wanting to use the pretext of the new document to seek another two terms in the 2020 elections.
President Alpha Conde argued that the constitution needed to be updated to bring about social changes in the country, especially for women, with reforms including a ban on female genital mutilation and underage marriage.
The president’s decision to amend the constitution was hugely controversial and led to mass demonstrations against the proposed changes that even left dozens of people dead in the West African nation.
The vote in Guinea was originally planned for March 1 but was postponed until March 22 after international observers raised concerns about its fairness.
According to the country’s electoral body, the voters overwhelmingly backed the new constitution. Around 91.59 percent of votes were in favor of adopting the new constitution, while 8.41 percent were against. The turnout was 61 percent. The opposition boycotted the referendum, as well as the legislative vote that was organized simultaneously.
Guinea has 128 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The government has already announced a string of measures to tackle the coronavirus that includes payment of electricity bills of the poorest for three months, fixing the price of medicines and basic necessities during the pandemic and offer free public transport for three months.
