Guinea Holds Historic Elections!
Soldiers and civilians lining to vote in Conakry (from timesunion.com)
Sunday marked the first truly free and peaceful elections in Guinean history!
Like other international actors, Search for Common Ground has played a major role from the beginning of the electoral process, campaigning for peaceful elections through its radio programs. SFCG’s synergy project which linked 17 independent radio stations, resulted in the broadcast a unique radio program that was aired by all the stations on election day. Stations received support from SFCG and Radio France Internationale (RFI) in journalistic training. The program was greatly appreciated by partners and Guinean listeners.
Guineans showed their strong desire for fair electoral process through massive participation. The strong participation from women and youth, in particular, stood out as an achievement. In some polling stations women and men were grouped into separate lines. Others organized voters to give priority to seniors–although some claimed that women should have priority so they could return home quickly in time to cook for men! Despite comments like these, many women refused to stand in separate lines, arguing that the gender of the voter makes no difference to the vote.
Many of Search for Common Ground’s efforts in Guinea, especially through our radio programs, have encouraged the empowerment of women and youth. With the voter turnout from these groups we believe our efforts have paid off.
The election was not without hiccups. Some people had trouble finding their polling stations. Some lacked their electoral cards while others came with multiples for relatives unable to travel to the stations. There was also a communication problem from the electoral commission that delayed voting at many polling stations. Despite these small setbacks, the election was peaceful and satisfied Guineans and international observers (some 4000 of them!) alike.
The synergy radio station, FM GUINEE 2010 planned to provide elections results on the same day but anxious voters and observers will have to wait for the election commission, which is expected to announce the results on Wednesday.
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