In late April, Guinea's foreign minister, Morissanda Kouyaté, posed a question in the National Assembly: "We’re the [world’s] second-largest bauxite producer; why would we grovel before the international community?" Meanwhile, the National Committee of Reconciliation and Development (CNRD), led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya since the coup on September 5, 2021, appears to have little urgency in organising elections. Officially, these elections are slated for 2024, at which point a civilian president is expected to take charge. However, the junta in Conakry has made limited tangible progress in this direction. Surprisingly, they face considerably less international pressure compared to their counterparts in neighbouring junta-led countries.
This raises the question of why there is a double standard. Unlike the military leadership in Bamako (Mali), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and Niamey (Niger), the Guinean junta has opted to maintain balanced relationships with global powers, securing a degree of leniency from the international community, notably from the United States and France.
