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The Electoral Commission (EC) has published the ballot statistics for the upcoming 2024 presidential and parliamentary Elections. In a statement dated Monday (14 October 2024), the EC stated that the ballot statistics will guide the printing of ballots ahead of the general elections. The Commission highlighted that it considered the total number of voters on […]
The post EC releases ballot statistics for 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections first appeared on Gajreport.
The post EC releases ballot statistics for 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections appeared first on Gajreport.
Critics have called it a stunt to invite sympathy. Yet Amuriat says campaigning without shoes is a protest and that those who do not get its symbolism are missing a point.
Uganda is due to hold a general election on January 14. Amuriat and another opposition candidate, Bobi Wine have had their rallies violently dispersed by security forces or been arrested.
In mid-November, scores of people were killed as security forces attempted to quell protests against the arrest and detention of Bobi Wine.
Police has accused the candidates of addressing huge gatherings in contravention of regulations on COVID-19 prevention.
Swollen feet
In an interview with one of the dailies in Uganda, Amuriat said his feet hurt a lot and has to pour cold water on them in between campaign stops for some relief.
Doctors have cautioned him on the potential danger of contracting tetanus from cuts to his feet.
Yet Amuriat remains adamant. He says by refusing to wear shoes, he’s standing in solidarity with people whose wealth and opportunities have been stolen by the country’s longtime ruler Yoweri Museveni.
JUST IN: FDC presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat has been arrested at the border of Rubirizi and Bushenyi districts. The reason for his arrest is yet to be known📹 @MukhayeD#MonitorUpdates#UGDecides2021 pic.twitter.com/xopK4FMoD0
— Daily Monitor (@DailyMonitor) December 4, 2020
Museveni, in power since 1986 is seeking a new term. In 2017, he changed the constitution to remove age limits that would have stopped him from seeking re-election.
FDC is Uganda’s largest opposition party. In 3 previous elections, the party fronted veteran activist and retired army colonel Kizza Besigye for president.
[Ghanaian Times] Five people were shot dead and 15 others suffered injuries in violence nationwide during the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
In April 2000, experts estimated some 150,000 people, or more than one-quarter of the population, needed food aid. The UN agreed to spend $2.7 million to increase the city of Djiboutis port facilities since it is a crucial regional grain terminus. In 2002, Djibouti became a key U.S. military base used to combat terrorism. In 2005, President Guelleh, running unopposed, was reelected.
In parliamentary elections in Feb. 2008, which were boycotted by the three main opposition parties, the ruling Union for the Presidential Majority won 94.1% of the vote, taking all 65 seats.
In 2010, Parliament approved a constitutional amendment that allowed the president to run for a third term. However, it reduced the term from six years to five. Presidential elections in 2011 saw incumbent Ismail Omar Guelleh win a third term with 80.6% of the vote and a turnout of 69.7%. The opposition participated in parliamentary elections in Feb. 2013, the first time since its boycott in 2003. However, the governing Union for the Presidential Majority won 49 out of 65 seats, and the opposition denounced the results.
See also Encyclopedia: Djibouti
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Djibouti
Ministry of the Economy, Finances, and Privitization Planning http://www.ministere-finances.dj/ (in French).
Madagascar lies in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa opposite Mozambique. The worlds fourth-largest island, it is twice the size of Arizona. The countrys low-lying coastal area gives way to a central plateau. The once densely wooded interior has largely been cut down.
Multiparty republic.
The Malagasy are of mixed Malayo-Indonesian and African-Arab ancestry. Indonesians are believed to have migrated to the island about 700. King Andrianampoinimerina (1787–1810) ruled the major kingdom on the island, and his son, Radama I (1810–1828), unified much of the island. The French made the island a protectorate in 1885, and then, in 1894–1895, ended the monarchy, exiling Queen Rànavàlona III to Algiers. A colonial administration was set up, to which the Comoro Islands were attached in 1908, and other territories later. In World War II, the British occupied Madagascar, which retained ties to Vichy France.
An autonomous republic within the French Community since 1958, Madagascar became an independent member of the community in 1960. In May 1973, an army coup led by Maj. Gen. Gabriel Ramanantsoa ousted Philibert Tsiranana, president since 1959. Cdr. Didier Ratsiraka, named president on June 15, 1975, announced that he would follow a socialist course and, after nationalizing banks and insurance companies, declared all mineral resources nationalized. Repression and censorship characterized his regime. Ratsiraka was reelected in 1989 in a suspicious election that led to riots as well as the formation of a multiparty system in 1990. In 1991, Ratsiraka agreed to share power with the democratically minded opposition leader, Albert Zafy, who then overwhelmingly won the presidential elections in Feb. 1993. But Zafy was impeached by Parliament for abusing his constitutional powers during an economic crisis and lost the 1996 presidential election to Ratsiraka, who again became president in Feb. 1997.
The Dec. 2001 presidential election between incumbent president Didier Ratsiraka and Marc Ravalomanana, the mayor
[Monitor] The Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation in Uganda, Ambassador Atillio Pacifici, has said they are impressed with the level of organisation and peaceful conduct exhibited during the presidential and parliamentary polls held on Thursday.
Cassandra Quin Butt is Deputy White House Counsel to President Barack Obama on issues relating to civil rights, domestic policy, healthcare, and education. She brought seventeen years of experience in politics and policy to her position. She is a long-time friend of the President, acting as an advisor during his term in the U.S. Senate and throughout his presidential campaign. Additionally, she served as a member of the presidential transition team.
Butts was born on August 10, 1965, in Brooklyn, New York, and at age nine moved to Durham, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill with a BA in political science. While at UNC she participated in anti-apartheid protests. She entered Harvard Law School in 1988 where her friendship with future President Barack Obama began when both were filling out forms in the student financial aid line. Butts continued her activism at Harvard where she joined in protests regarding hiring practices for faculty of color. She received a JD from Harvard in 1991.
The first black woman to function as Deputy White House Counsel gradually rose to prominence Her first job was as a counselor at the YMCA in Durham, North Carolina, and after graduating from UNC she worked for a year as a researcher with the African News Service in Durham. For six years she was a registered lobbyist with the Center for American Progress (CAP), rising to Senior Vice President.
Butts served as an election observer in the 2000 Zimbabwean parliamentary elections and was a counsel to Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania. Butts then performed litigation and policy work as assistant counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where she worked on civil rights policy and litigated voting rights and school desegregation cases. She spent seven years working as a senior advisor to U.S. Congressman and Democratic Majority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri. Working with Gephardt
By Willy Blackmore, Word in Black In 2016, the year new Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was first elected to Congress, there was major flooding across Louisiana in what was then called the worst natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy. While much of the high water was in southeastern Louisiana, there was also flooding […]
[Monitor] The Electoral Commission (EC) was justified to suspend election campaign meetings in 12 districts, court has ruled.
By the end of the 1980s, Benins economy was near collapse. As its oil boom ended, Nigeria expelled 100,000 Beninese migrant workers and closed the border with Benin. Kérékous socialist collectivization of Benins agriculture and the ballooning bureaucracy further damaged the economy. By 1988, international financial institutions feared Benin would default on its loans and pressured Kérékou to make financial reforms.
Kérékou subsequently embarked on a major privatization campaign, cut the government payroll, and reduced social services, prompting student and labor union unrest. Fearing a revolution, Kérékou agreed to a new constitution and free elections. In 1991, Nicéphore Soglo, an economist and former director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, was elected president. Although he enjoyed widespread support at first, Soglo gradually became unpopular as austerity measures reduced living standards and a 50% currency devaluation in 1994 caused inflation. Kérékou defeated Soglo in the 1996 elections and was easily reelected in March 2001. Term limits prevented him from running again. In April 2006, Yayi Boni assumed the presidency. The World Bank and IMF agreed to cancel much of Benins foreign debt after the country demonstrated significant economic reforms.
In 2010, floods destroyed 55,000 homes, killed tens of thousands of livestock, and displaced 680,000 people. There were 46 fatalities.
After two postponements, presidential elections were held on March 13, 2011. According to Benins constitutional court, incumbent Yayi Boni won 53% of the vote. His main challenger, Adrien Houngbedji, disputed the results, alleging fraud and claiming victory for himself. Parliamentary elections followed in April, 2011, and established a new government, including Pascal Koupaki as prime minister, Nassirou Bako Arifari as foreign minister, Benoît Assouan Degla as interior minister, and Adidjatou Mathys as finance minister; Issifou Kogui NDouro remained as defense minister.
[Monitor] The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party yesterday challenged the Electoral Commission (EC) to summon all political candidates defying Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) during campaigns, including President Museveni.
This West African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east, is about the size of Tennessee. It is bounded by Burkina Faso and Niger on the north. The land consists of a narrow coastal strip that rises to a swampy, forested plateau and then to highlands in the north. A hot and humid climate blankets the entire country.
Republic under a multiparty democratic rule.
The Abomey kingdom of the Dahomey, or Fon, peoples was established in 1625. A rich cultural life flourished, and Dahomeys wooden masks, bronze statues, tapestries, and pottery are world renowned. One of the smallest and most densely populated regions in Africa, Dahomey was annexed by the French in 1893 and incorporated into French West Africa in 1904. It became an autonomous republic within the French Community in 1958, and on Aug. 1, 1960, Dahomey was granted its independence within the Community.
Gen. Christophe Soglo deposed the first president, Hubert Maga, in an army coup in 1963. He dismissed the civilian government in 1965, proclaiming himself chief of state. A group of young army officers seized power in Dec. 1967, deposing Soglo. In Dec. 1969, Benin had its fifth coup of the decade, with the army again taking power. In May 1970, a three-man presidential commission with a six-year term was created to take over the government. In May 1972, yet another army coup ousted the triumvirate and installed Lt. Col. Mathieu Kérékou as president. Between 1974 and 1989 Dahomey embraced socialism, and changed its name to the Peoples Republic of Benin. The name Benin commemorates an African kingdom that flourished from the 15th to the 17th century in what is now southwest Nigeria. In 1990, Benin abandoned Marxist ideology, began moving toward multiparty democracy, and changed its name again, to the Republic of Benin.
By the end of the 1980s, Benins economy was near collapse. As its oil boom ended, Nigeria expelled 100,000 Beninese migrant workers and closed the border with Benin. Kérékous socialist collectivization of
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a decisive re-election victory on Saturday, elections officials said, but his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud and said citizens should reject the result. Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6 percent, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8 percent), the electoral commission said at a news conference on the final results from Thursday's election. The United States and an African election monitoring group complained of election irregularities and Wine, a 38-year-old singer-turned-lawmaker who had rallied young Ugandans behind his call for political change, called the results a 'complete fraud”. 'It’s an election that was taken over by the military and the police,' he said in a phone interview from inside his home in the capital, Kampala, which was surrounded by soldiers who he said had forbidden him from leaving. 'It further exposes how dictatorial the Museveni regime is,' added Wine, who campaigned to end what he called widespread corruption. 'It's a mockery of democracy.” The army's deputy spokesman, Deo Akiiki, told Reuters that security officers at Wine's house were assessing threats he could face by going out: 'So they might be preventing him in the interest of his own safety.' After the results were announced, many neighbourhoods in normally bustling Kampala were unusually quiet as nightfall approached. Soldiers and police who had patrolled throughout the day remained on the streets in large numbers, witnesses said. Hundreds of the president's supporters rode motorcycles from the election tallying centre to downtown, where people danced with posters bearing the president's face. Museveni, 76 and in power for 35 years, campaigned for another term arguing his long experience in office makes him a good leader and promising to keep delivering stability and progress. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, galvanised young Ugandans with his calls for political change and pledged to end what he calls dictatorship and widespread corruption. On Friday, Wine said he had video proof of voting fraud and would share the videos as soon as internet connections were restored. The government ordered the internet shut down the day before the election, and the blackout was still in place. Electoral Commission Chairman Simon Byabakama said on Friday that under Ugandan law, the burden of proof rested with Wine. Reuters has not independently verified Wine's claims. No EU or US observers The Africa Elections Watch coalition, which deployed 2,000 observers in 146 districts, said in a statement that they had observed irregularities, including the late opening of most polling stations, missing ballot papers and illegally opened ballot boxes. The African Union and East African Community sent observer teams to the election, but neither group of officials responded to requests for comment about possible irregularities. The European Union and the US did not deploy observer teams, but the US State Department’s top diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, said in a t
[DW] Political newcomers have it tough in a country where long-established families dominate the polls. The top presidential candidates in the December 7 election are all offspring of Ghana's independence-era \"Big Six.\"
In an effort to highlight the people who are leading graduate chapters across the nation, we at Watch The Yard reached out to the sorority sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.’s Epsilon Upsilon Omega Chapter in Trenton, NJ and did an interview with Adrienne King the Basileus of the chapter. The position of Basileus/president […]
The post Leadership Highlight: Adrienne King the Basileus of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Epsilon Upsilon Omega Chapter in Trenton, NJ appeared first on Watch The Yard.
Nearly four times the size of Texas and the largest country on the continent, Algeria is bordered on the west by Morocco and Western Sahara and on the east by Tunisia and Libya. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north, and to the south are Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. The Saharan region, which is 85% of the country, is almost completely uninhabited. The highest point is Mount Tahat in the Sahara, which rises 9,850 ft (3,000 m).
Parliamentary republic.
Excavations in Algeria have indicated that Homo erectus resided there between 500,000 and 700,000 years ago. Phoenician traders settled on the Mediterranean coast in the 1st millennium B.C. As ancient Numidia, Algeria became a Roman colony, part of what was called Mauretania Caesariensis, at the close of the Punic Wars (145 B.C.). Conquered by the Vandals about A.D. 440, it fell from a high state of civilization to virtual barbarism, from which it partly recovered after an invasion by Arabs about 650. Christian during its Roman period, the indigenous Berbers were then converted to Islam. Falling under the control of the Ottoman Empire by 1536, Algiers served for three centuries as the headquarters of the Barbary pirates. Ostensibly to rid the region of the pirates, the French occupied Algeria in 1830 and made it a part of France in 1848.
Algerian independence movements led to the uprisings of 1954–1955, which developed into full-scale war. In 1962, French president Charles de Gaulle began the peace negotiations, and on July 5, 1962, Algeria was proclaimed independent. In Oct. 1963, Ahmed Ben Bella was elected president, and the country became Socialist. He began to nationalize foreign holdings and aroused opposition. He was overthrown in a military coup on June 19, 1965, by Col. Houari Boumédienne, who suspended the constitution and sought to restore economic stability. After his death, Boumédienne was succeeded by Col. Chadli Bendjedid in 1978. Berbers rioted in 1980 when Arabic was made the countrys only official language. Algeria entered a major recession after
Togo, twice the size of Maryland, is on the south coast of West Africa bordering on Ghana to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Benin to the east. The Gulf of Guinea coastline, only 32 mi long (51 km), is low and sandy. The only port is at Lomé. The Togo hills traverse the central section.
Republic transitioning to multiparty democratic rule.
The Voltaic peoples and the Kwa were the earliest known inhabitants. The Ewe followed in the 14th century and the Ane in the 18th century. The Danish claimed the land in the 18th century, but by 1884 it was established as a German colony (Togoland). The area was split between the British and the French under League of Nations mandates after World War I and subsequently administered as UN trusteeships. The British portion voted for incorporation with Ghana. The French portion became Togo, which declared its independence on April 27, 1960.
Togos first democratically elected president, Sylvano Olympius, was overthrown in 1963. He was shot and killed by Sgt. Etienne Eyadema while he attempted to scale the walls of the American Embassy to seek asylum. The government of Nicolas Grunitzky was overthrown in a bloodless coup on Jan. 13, 1967, led by Lt. Col. Etienne Eyadema (now called Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadema). A National Reconciliation Committee was set up to rule the country, but in April, Eyadema dissolved the committee and took over as president. He suspended the constitution, banned political parties, and created a cult of personality around his presidency; his official biography describes him as a “force of nature.” Under pressure from the West, Eyadema legalized opposition parties in 1993, but the first multiparty presidential election in Aug. 1993 (which gave Eyadema more than 96% of the vote) was considered fraudulent, as was his 1998 reelection. In Feb. 2005, Eyadema died—he had been Africas longest-serving ruler (38 years). A day after his death, the military installed his son, Faure Gnassingbe, to serve out his term. Gnassingbe took office on Feb. 7 amid strong
[DW] Bobi Wine, a 38-year-old musician, is the frontrunner seeking to replace long-time leader Yoweri Museveni, who eyes a sixth term. Voters headed to the polls amid an internet blackout.
Huit ans après les attentats les plus meurtriers jamais commis en France, la Première ministre Élisabeth Borne a participé lundi aux cérémonies d'hommage aux 130 victimes tuées le 13 novembre 2015 à Paris et Saint-Denis.
The post Attentats du 13-Novembre : un hommage rendu aux victimes en présence d'Élisabeth Borne appeared first on Haiti24.
[Monitor] The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) has raised a red flag over the rising human rights violation cases in Uganda ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections slated for January 14.
Joseph P. Bradley , (born March 14, 1813, Berne, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 22, 1892, Washington, D.C.), associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1870. Bradley was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Electoral Commission of 1877, and his vote elected Rutherford B. Hayes president of the United States. As a justice he emphasized the power of the federal government to regulate commerce. His decisions reflecting this view, rendered during the period of rapid industrialization that followed the American Civil War, were significant in assuring a national market for manufactured goods. His refusal to allow constitutional protection for the civil rights of blacks assisted in the defeat of Reconstruction in the South.
A farm boy with a thirst for learning, Bradley managed to find a way to attend Rutgers College. He thereafter passed the New Jersey bar. He grew to be both a reflective master of the law and an active participant in large undertakings; the Camden & Amboy Railroad was his most important client. In 1870 Bradley was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ulysses S. Grant and was assigned, as a traveling circuit justice, to the Fifth (Southern) Circuit. His first major civil-rights case was United States v. Cruikshank, which he heard initially in federal circuit court in 1874. It concerned an armed attack by whites who killed 60 blacks at a political rally in Louisiana. Bradley ruled that such rights as the citizen’s right to vote, to assemble peaceably, and to bear arms and the rights to due process and equal protection were not protected by the federal government but by the states. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the majority held the same view.
In 1883 Bradley and the court majority declared unconstitutional two sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which had forbidden discrimination on the ground of colour in inns, public conveyances, and places of amusement. Bradley held that the act was beyond the power of Congress because the Fourteenth Amendment barred discriminatory actions only
President Yoweri Museveni, in power in Uganda since 1986, was re-elected on Saturday for a sixth term with 58.64% of the vote, the electoral commission said, amid accusations of fraud by his main opponent Bobi Wine.
[Nation] Somalia is largely an oral society where word of mouth spreads like fire.
[Nation] The electoral commission has joined the anti-graft agency in warning impeached governors that they won't secure clearance to contest elections even as politicians fought the sanctions, rekindling how Parliament watered down integrity laws.
Despite the political turmoil and uncertainty, millions of Egyptians voted in the first round of parliamentary elections on Nov. 28, 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood fared better than expected, winning about 40% of the vote. Even more of a shock was the second place finish of the ultraconservative Islamist Salafists, who took about 25%. The Muslim Brotherhood, however, said it did not plan to form a coalition with the Salafis—an apparent attempt to calm fears that it would assemble an Islamist government. In fact, it said that it planned to form a unity government with secularists and would respect the rights of women and religious minorities.
The second round of parliamentary elections in mid-December were marred by violence. Protesters demonstrating against military rule were beat up and troops assaulted civilians who assembled outside parliament and judges who were enlisted to supervise the vote counting. In response, the civilian advisory council, formed to help the military council gain acceptance with the populace, ceased operations. The move was an embarrassment to the military council. The reputation of the military was further tarnished in late December, when it beat, kicked, and stripped several women who were participating in a womens demonstration against military rule.
After the third and final round of voting, the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as the clear winner, taking 47% of the seats in parliament. The Salafis won 25%, giving Islamists more than 70% of the seats. The first democratically elected parliament in more than 60 years convened in January 2012. Parliament, however, will remain secondary to the military council until the military hands power to a civilian government, which is expected after Mays presidential election. The legislative body was charged with forming a committee to write a new constitution. The Muslim Brotherhood named as many as 70 Islamists, including 50 members of parliament, to the 100-person committee. Given its dominance in parliament and control over the new
The 2023 edition of Tech in Ghana, an initiative committed to fostering and fortifying Ghana’s tech ecosystem since 2017, kicked off on 28th November 2023 and expected to continue on the 29th of November 2023 at the Accra Digital Centre. This conference serves as a pivotal platform, designed to facilitate valuable interactions among industry leaders, […]
The post Connecting Minds, Building Futures: 2023 edition of Tech in Ghana kicks at Accra Digital Centre first appeared on Gajreport.
The post Connecting Minds, Building Futures: 2023 edition of Tech in Ghana kicks at Accra Digital Centre appeared first on Gajreport.
Krystian Legierski, an LGBT activist, politician, lawyer, and entrepreneur, is the first openly gay person elected to public office in Poland. He was born on April 22, 1978, in the village of Koniakow in southwestern Poland. His mother is Polish and his father is from Mauritania. Legierski, known for his progressive political and social views, frequently discusses being brought up by his religious mother and grandmother in a traditionally conservative community. He notes, however, that both his family and his community have always been supportive of him. He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw.
Legierski was an active member of a left-wing political party, the Greens, since its founding in 2004. He ran unsuccessfully, as a member of the Greens, in the 2005 and 2011 Polish parliamentary elections and in the 2004 and 2009 European Parliament elections. In 2010 he won a seat in the Warsaw City Council. After losing a bid to assume leadership of the Greens, Legierski left the party in 2011, citing internal disagreements over the question of potential coalition partners as his primary motivation. He was not reelected to the Warsaw City Council in 2014. In the 2015 parliamentary election, he ran as a candidate of the United Left, but the coalition did not cross the 8 percent threshold required to gain seats in Parliament.
Legierski’s political interests focus on LGBT rights, affordable housing, accessibility and structure of the public space, and civil society. As an activist, Legierski has been one of the most recognizable advocates of LGBT rights in Poland. He led an initiative to oppose the ban on the Warsaw Equality Parade, an annual LGBT rights event that the conservative authorities of Warsaw attempted to block in 2005. He was also actively involved in the unsuccessful effort to enable homosexual couples to form civil unions. Since 2009 he has been a supporter of a campaign to promote civil partnerships in Poland. The proposed law intends to protect the rights of
In Dec. 2003 President Conté was reelected to a third term. In April 2004, after two months on the job, Prime Minister Lonseny Fall resigned and went into exile, claiming that the president would not allow him to govern effectively. President Conté is in poor health, and many fear a power struggle should he die or be deposed. Anti-government demonstrators took to the streets in January and February 2007, demanding that Conté step down. In addition, labor unions went on strike, paralyzing the country. Conté, who has been criticized as being corrupt, responded by declaring martial law. The strike ended in late February when President Conté agreed to name diplomat Lansana Kouyaté as prime minister. More than 100 people died in battles with security officials during the strike.
Kouyaté was sacked in May 2008 and replaced by Ahmed Tidiane Souaré, a member of President Contés Party of Unity and Progress. Conte died in December 2008 after 24 years in power. Junior army leaders launched a bloodless coup shortly after his death. Many citizens, fed up with years of authoritarian rule, backed the coup. Army captain Moussa Camara took over as president of the republic. The junta established a 32-member National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) that replaced the government. The council said its priorities would be to wipe out corruption and improve the quality of life in Guinea. In August 2009, Camara called for presidential elections to be held in January 2010, with parliamentary elections to follow in March, thus fulfilling a pledge to call elections within two years of assuming power.
A month later, security forces opened fire at a pro-democracy demonstration at a Conakry stadium, killing nearly 160 people. The victims were among thousands protesting reports that Camara planned to run in the upcoming presidential election. The African Union, European Union, and the U.S. imposed sanctions on Guinea following the massacre, and Humans Rights Watch issued a report that said the crackdown was intended to stifle
