– Deadly ethnic tensions –
Guinea, one of the poorest countries in the region despite vast potential for mineral exploitation, was run by a succession of autocratic rulers after gaining independence from France in 1958.
A military junta took control in 2008 after the of death of president Lansana Conte, who seized power in a coup 24 years earlier, and a caretaker regime oversaw the transition to civilian rule in 2010.
The last election – September 2013’s parliamentary vote – was delayed by almost three years, stoking deadly ethnic tensions that have dogged the country’s politics since independence.
Politics in Guinea typically polarises some two dozen ethnic groups who otherwise live in harmony alongside each other — with the Fulani the largest at around 40 percent of the population followed by the Malinke and Soussou.
President Conde, a Malinke, leads the Rally of the Guinean People and claims to espouse socialism while his main rival, Diallo, is a Fulani and heads the centrist liberal Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UDFG).
Police had been deployed en masse early Monday to the planned locations of the rallies, declared illegal, at several main intersections across Conakry.
Amadou Damaro Camara, the chairman of the parliamentary majority group, accused the opposition of trying to create a “climate of instability”.
“That is consistent with their desire to bring chaos to all areas,” he told AFP.
El Hadj Aliou Bah, a UDFG lawmaker for the Ratoma constituency called on supporters to confront security forces, telling demonstrators: “We really do not have to be afraid of the police.”
“Do not provoke anyone. When you are told to stop, stop. But when they attack you even though you are innocent, you don’t just accept it, that much at least is clear,” he added.
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