The transitional assembly in Guinea, which is tasked with organizing a return to civilian rule after the military overthrow last year of President Alpha Conde, held its inaugural session Saturday.
All 81 members of the national transitional council, known by its French acronym CNT, were present for the day-long inaugural session in parliament buildings in the capital Conakry, AFP journalists noted.
Conde, who was Guinea’s first democratically elected president and had been in power since 2010, was deposed on September 5 at the age of 83.
Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who led the coup, was sworn in as interim president a month later, promising to “refound the state”.
He also vowed to fight corruption and reform the electoral system in order to hold “free, credible, Mali and transparent” elections.
The CNT, whose members were chosen by Doumbouya from lists submitted by political parties and associations, is tasked with drafting a new constitution and suggesting a date for a return to civilian rule.
In the meantime, the government and other institutions have been dissolved and ministers, governors, and prefects replaced with administrators and soldiers.
Prime Minister Mohamed Beavogui, a development expert who was named interim prime minister, attended the assembly session.
Guinea is one of four West African countries where the military seized power in the last year, along with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea Bissau.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended both Guinea and neighbouring Mali from the bloc and imposed sanctions over the coups.
In a mark of defiance, the president of the transitional council of Mali, Colonel Malick Diaw, attended Saturday’s inaugural session of Guinea’s assembly.
“With the political transition underway in Mali and Guinea our two countries are at a crossroads,” Diaw said, insisting the end goal was “political normalisation.”
ECOWAS demanded that Guinea hold elections within six months of the coup, which would fall in mid-March.
