Guinean opposition presidential candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo (C) wave to supporters on October 8, 2015 during a presidential election campaign in Conakry. (AFP)
Conakry:
Guinea's opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo urged supporters to make their voices heard at the ballot box in Sunday's presidential election after his calls for a delay of the "imperfect" polls fell on deaf ears.
The last-minute appeal to voters came as tension hung over the west African country on the eve of the election, after clashes between incumbent President Alpha Conde's supporters and the opposition left seven people dead in recent days.
"I would like to ask for one thing, and that is to end these demonstrations," Diallo said at a meeting of his UFDG party in the capital, saying there should be no boycott despite "all the imperfections, anomalies and irregularities" that marred the election preparations.
"We will vote, defend our suffrage, defend our victory because there is no way we will let our victory be stolen," said Diallo, a former premier.
Six of Conde's seven opponents had called for the vote to be delayed, citing the unreliability of the electoral lists and problems with distributing electoral cards.
After a largely peaceful campaign, the demands for a postponement helped send tensions soaring as it fuelled a perception among opposition supporters that the race was stacked in favour of Conde, widely tipped to win a second term.
Conde dismissed the calls for a postponement and the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) also said it was ready to hold the vote as scheduled on Sunday.
Conde, whose campaign slogan promises to deliver a "KO blow" to his opponents, has boasted of his intention to rout his rivals in the first round of the election.
Sunday's vote is only the second to be held in the impoverished country since Guinea's first democratic election in 2010.
The last-minute appeal to voters came as tension hung over the west African country on the eve of the election, after clashes between incumbent President Alpha Conde's supporters and the opposition left seven people dead in recent days.
"I would like to ask for one thing, and that is to end these demonstrations," Diallo said at a meeting of his UFDG party in the capital, saying there should be no boycott despite "all the imperfections, anomalies and irregularities" that marred the election preparations.
"We will vote, defend our suffrage, defend our victory because there is no way we will let our victory be stolen," said Diallo, a former premier.
Six of Conde's seven opponents had called for the vote to be delayed, citing the unreliability of the electoral lists and problems with distributing electoral cards.
After a largely peaceful campaign, the demands for a postponement helped send tensions soaring as it fuelled a perception among opposition supporters that the race was stacked in favour of Conde, widely tipped to win a second term.
Conde dismissed the calls for a postponement and the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) also said it was ready to hold the vote as scheduled on Sunday.
Conde, whose campaign slogan promises to deliver a "KO blow" to his opponents, has boasted of his intention to rout his rivals in the first round of the election.
Sunday's vote is only the second to be held in the impoverished country since Guinea's first democratic election in 2010.
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