Op-ed: Seven things to know about Guinea's constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum in Guinea on September 21, 2025, seeks to shape the governance trajectory of this West African country of 14.8 million people. Administered by the military junta led by Mamadi Doumbouya, the referendum aims to validate and perpetuate the junta's rule following its seizure of power in a coup against Guinea's civilian and democratically elected government on September 5, 2021. [ . . . ] A major point of contention regarding the transition has been the junta's decision to draft and adopt a new constitution prior to the return to democratic rule. Opposition members point out that, since the junta took power by force and failed to abide by its own transition timetable, its government is illegitimate as of January 2025. Moreover, while the junta did organize several rounds of consultations with the population, first in 2023, and then in 2024, the main opposition coalitions within civil society refused to participate, citing the process' lack of legitimacy and the junta's crackdown. The document text was drafted by selected members of the junta's transitional council (Conseil national de la transition) in an opaque fashion. The council voted to adopt the draft constitution in a closed session, where only some of the council members were able to read the final version before voting to approve it.
Read the full article here: ACSS