Guinea’s military junta on Friday announced a political forum had proposed a transition period of between 18 and 52 months before holding elections, reported The Guardian.
In April, the Guinean government launched an inclusive consultation framework aimed at chalking out plans for restoring civilian rule after last year’s military coup in the West African state.
At the close of the conference in the capital Conakry on Friday, Territorial Administration Minister Mory Conde said that all the participants had suggested transition periods ranging from 18 to 52 months.
He added that the junta and representatives from civil society and politics will decide the transition period together. Notably, several prominent political groups in Guinea boycotted the conference.
Guinea and Mali were suspended from ECOWAS following military coups and hit by a raft of economic sanctions. Burkina Faso has so far been spared economic and financial sanctions.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had set Monday as a deadline for putting forward an acceptable transition timetable or risk more economic and financial sanctions.
But Guinea’s ruling military junta failed to meet the deadline and urged the West African regional bloc ECOWAS for more time for consultations to continue.
“Guinea presented the recent developments in the transition process and also wished to have more time in relation to the 25 April deadline”, in order to allow for further consultations, the ECOWAS said in a statement on Wednesday.
Burkina Faso’s military government, which has been in power since a January coup, had previously said it needed 36 months to restore democratic rule, citing security concerns caused by an Islamist insurgency. It also missed the April 25 deadline and asked ECOWAS for more time.
ECOWAS announced that it would send missions to Mali as well as Burkina Faso before a forthcoming summit of heads of state, at unspecified dates.
