Guinea’s junta leader decides to run for president 4 years after leading a coup

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Guinea’s junta leader submitted his bid Monday to be a candidate for the presidential election in December, contradicting his earlier promise not to run for the office after he led soldiers in sezing power four years ago.

Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya, in power as junta leader and interim president since a September 2021 coup, could remain the West African nation’s leader for another seven years if he wins the vote scheduled for Dec. 28.

The election will be held under a new constitution approved in a recent referendum, which allowed junta members to run for office, and extended the presidential mandate from 5 to 7 years.

Guinea is one of a growing number of African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where soldiers who staged coups have consolidated their grip on power and reneged on earlier promises of a quick return to democracy.

Shortly after the Guinea’s coup in 2021, Doumbouya pledged a smooth transition to democracy and said that he and other soldiers wouldn’t be running for president.

Doumbouya joins a handful of other candidates in the race, including former Prime Minister Lansana Kouyaté and Ousmane Kaba, a former government minister.

Doumbouya’s junta has clamped down on the main opposition, leaving him in a strong position to win the election. Guinea’s two main opposition leaders, Cellou Dalein Diallo and Sidya Toure, have been forced into exile and their parties are not expected to be on the ballot in December.

The junta leader also has created a new electoral body, and has said two heads of the institution will be appointed by decree.