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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Guinea in 2008: the unfinished revolution
Author:Engeler, MichelleISNI
Year:2008
Periodical:Politique africaine
Issue:112
Pages:87-98
Language:English
Geographic term:Guinea
Subjects:political conditions
civil-military relations
Abstract:This article was written just before 22 December 2008, the day when, after 24 years in power, President Lansana Conté passed away. The next day, the military took power in a bloodless coup and declared Captain Moussa Dadis Camara President of the country. The nomination of Camara seemed to be a gesture in the direction of Guinean trade union and civil society leaders. An appendix dated 12 January 2009 covers recent developments and notes the obvious, that the coup confirms that power in Guinea lies with the armed forces. The article itself analyses why Guinea's political transition seems never ending. In 2008, strikes, riots and clashes affected country and state. Back in 2006-2007, a federation of trade unions called for several strikes, proving to be, for the first time since independence, an effective force for oppositional mobilization. Issues were economic but also political. Unrest went on and on. On 26 February, Lansana Conté had to give in and appoint Lansana Kouyaté, who enjoyed the support of the trade unions, as his new prime minister. This seemed a real revolution. During the 'February Revolution', Guineans demonstrated their enthusiasm and desire for political reforms. In the light of the events of 2006 and 2007, it was a question of interpretation whether the 'revolution' would finally come to a close in 2008 or whether it would still keep going on. The paper suggests two interpretations of the events during the turbulent year 2008 that might seem, at first sight, mutually exclusive. The first interpretation is that the revolution failed. The second argues that the political transformation that was initiated continued through 2008, with different means, on different scales and with different intentions. Within and beyond these two different interpretations, the Guinean military plays an important but hardly predictable role. Notes, ref., sum. in English and French (p. 215). [ASC Leiden abstract]
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