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History and Government
History: Modern Guinea was part of the Mali empire, which espoused Islam and dominated the region between the seventh and 15th centuries. Portuguese explorers arrived in the region during the mid-15th century and over the next 300 years they, the British and the French made Guinea the centre of a major slave trade.
In 1849, the French declared the Boke region a French protectorate. The division between the Guinea Republic and Guinea-Bissau dates from a Franco-Portuguese agreement of 1886, one of many concluded in West Africa to settle the competing claims of European colonialists. In 1895, the French incorporated the Boke province – the heart of the Guinea republic today – along with adjacent territory which they had taken control of, into French West Africa. The region was a single entity comprised mostly of modern-day francophone West Africa, which was governed from Dakar. When French West Africa was dissolved in 1958 prior to decolonisation, Guinea was the only former French protectorate which refused to join the French Community upon independence.
After the departure of the French, political power was assumed by the Parti Democratique de Guinée (since renamed the Parti pour l’Unité et le Progrès), which became the sole legitimate political party. However, by 1983, the regime’s extreme mismanagement and repressive behaviour had driven an estimated two million people into exile. In March 1984, the ruler of Guinea since independence, President Sekou Touré, died and the army immediately seized power in a bloodless coup led by Colonel Lansana Conté. The Conté government straight away set about improving badly damaged political and economic links with its West African neighbours. In 1989 Conté unveiled plans for a gradual move towards democratic government. A new constitution, known as the Third Republic, was accepted by national referendum in December 1990. The first presidential elections under the new constitution were held in December 1993 and won by Conté who defeated seven other candidates. At the beginning of February 1996, Conté survived an attempted coup, after which he assumed personal control of the country’s armed forces. He also appointed a Prime Minister, Laimine Sidime, for the first time as part of a comprehensive reorganisation of the government. As of August 2002, Sidime was still in charge of the PUP government. A three-year economic reform programme was agreed with the IMF in January 1997 designed to open up the economy and attract foreign investment. In December 1998, Conté was again returned to office after winning the most recent presidential election with an absolute majority.
During 2000, Guinea became embroiled in the struggles for territory and mineral wealth that have engulfed neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone (see relevant country entries for more detail). The Guinean army has had to deal with refugees from Sierra Leone (numbering 80,000) and Liberia (70,000) who have fled to Guinea to escape fighting in the area where the borders of the three countries meet: by April 2002, the refugees numbered about 150,00,00 split roughly evenly between Liberians and Sierra Leoneans.
Government: Under the terms of the Constitution of 23 December 1991 (further amended in April 1992) the President of the Republic is elected for five years. The 114-member unicameral National Assembly, which holds legislative power, also serves a five-year term.
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