Gambiaj.com – (CONAKRY, Guinea) – The leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), Cellou Dalein Diallo, has described the December 28, 2025, presidential election as a “second coup d’état” designed not to elect a president but to enthrone a king.
In a New Year address to Guineans at the close of 2025, the opposition leader, speaking from exile, directly challenged the provisional results announced by the General Directorate of Elections (DGE), arguing that the vote was engineered to legitimize the continued hold on power by the ruling junta.
According to Diallo, the December election followed the military coup of September 5, 2021, and represented a continuation of the same logic through electoral means. “After the coup d’état by force of arms on September 5, 2021, we have just witnessed a coup d’état through the ballot box on December 28, 2025,” he said. “It was not a President of the Republic they sought to elect; it was a king they wanted to install.”
Diallo stressed that the UFDG and other groups within the Forces Vives of Guinea refused to take part in what he termed a “masquerade,” calling on the population to boycott the process. He said the objective of the election was to give a veneer of legitimacy to a pre-planned confiscation of power by the junta.
He claimed that the authorities would announce results bearing no resemblance to the reality on the ground, including artificially high voter turnout and inflated votes in favor of their candidate. However, he maintained that the overwhelming majority of Guineans rejected the process by refusing to participate, a stance he praised as responsible and dignified.
The UFDG leader also accused transition leader General Mamadi Doumbouya of violating his pledge not to be both judge and party in the political process, arguing that the election was neither democratic nor credible.
Despite the proclamation of provisional results, Diallo insisted that the will of the people cannot be erased. “You can confiscate an election, but you cannot confiscate a conscience,” he said, adding that manipulated results cannot extinguish a people’s demand for democracy.
He concluded by urging Guineans to remain steadfast, stressing that the struggle for democracy is a long-term fight but one he believes will ultimately be won, as Guinea continues to face deep political tensions over the transition and the return to constitutional order.
