Overview
- Key opposition figures, including Cellou Dalein Diallo, Alpha Condé and Sidya Touré, are off the ballot due to exile, a residency rule and new age limits, with parties and media suspended and protests banned since 2022.
- About 6.8 million registered voters are set to pick from nine candidates, with Mamady Doumbouya running as an independent against largely lesser-known challengers.
- The election is being administered by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation rather than an independent commission for the first time since 2006.
- Opposition leaders urge a boycott and brand the contest an “electoral charade,” while analysts say turnout and perceived credibility are the main variables.
- Doumbouya centers his campaign on economic gains, notably the launch of Simandou iron ore operations, as ECOWAS calls the polls “significant progress” and poverty remains around 52%.