Legislative and municipal elections were held in Guinea on Sunday to complete the process of returning constitutional order to the country after the December 2025 presidential election While this double ballot took place without major incident, voter turnout was low.
Five months after the presidential election held on 28 December 2025, nearly 7 million Guinean voters went to the polls on Sunday for legislative and municipal elections presented as the completion of the process of returning the country to constitutional order.
This comes after a transition period triggered by the coup led by General Mamadi Doumbouya in September 2021 in the former French colony.
This double election will determine the 147 members of the country's future National Assembly as well as the municipal councillors for Guinea's 375 local authorities.
It took place peacefully, without major incident, according to RFI's correspondent in Conakry, Tangi Bihan.
Voter participation was subdued throughout the day however, as observed by Ousmane Kaba, a parliamentary candidate who came to vote in Nongo, in the Lambanyi district – one of the 12 districts that make up the city of Conakry.
"Turnout was very low," he told RFI. "In my polling station, there were only two or three of us around noon ... I therefore urge the DGE [General Directorate of Elections] to ensure that these elections are transparent, that there is absolutely no manipulation."
A voter known as Abdoul to RFI that "it was important to vote, even if the turnout was low." He supports Doumbouya. "I want him to have a large majority in the Assembly so he can pass his laws and the country can develop economically," he told explained.
'Electoral farce'
But many others expressed doubt.
In the Camayenne district located near the city centre, a voter known as Amadou said he did not go to vote, following instructions given by the Forces vives de Guinée – the coalition which brings together civil society organisations and several opposition parties.
The group includes parties dissolved last March such as the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée (RPG) or the Union des forces démocratiques de Guinée (UFDG) – which had called for a boycott.
“The conditions weren’t right for voting,” Amadou told RFI. “These elections aren’t fair. They’re neither free nor transparent, because the results are known in advance. So what’s the point of going to the polls?"
“Whether you vote or not, there’s no mystery,” said another voter, who also boycotted the polling booth, speaking to another RFI correspondent in Conakry. “If only the votes cast were taken into account, I would exercise my right to vote. But neither the so-called Elections Directorate nor the Supreme Court will do so. I therefore feel completely uninvolved in this electoral farce,” he added.
The low turnout in these elections could also be the result of the date chosen by the authorities, just a few days after Tabaski, according to several observers of Guinean political life.
The festival is generally celebrated with family in the village so many voters may therefore not have yet returned to their constituencies for election day.
Ecowas and other observers were deployed across the country.
Results might take days to come out: Partial or local results should begin circulating within 24 to 72 hours, and provisional national results within several days, depending on how quickly constituency tallies are transmitted. Final validated results will come later, after any appeals or certification procedures.
This piece has been adapted from the original article in French by RFI's Tangi Bihan
