Meet the 8 candidates in Guinea's presidential election (UPDATED)

Eight candidates  will be on the ballot in Guinea's presidential election on October 11 (7 men and one woman). This is a sharp reduction from the 24 candidates in 2010. Five of the eight, including incumbent Alpha Condé (RPG), contested the 2010 election.

Alpha Condé (not to be confused with former president Lansana Conté), in his first bid for re-election, is the front-runner. His main opposition is Cellou Dalein Diallo, candidate for the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) party and former prime minister (2004-2006, under former president  Conté). Diallo came in second place in the 2010 presidential election, with 47% of the vote in the runoff. That election has been described as "controversial."

Another major opposition candidate is Sidya Toure, candidate for Union of Republican Forces (UFR), also a former prime minister (1996-1999, under former president Conté). Toure came in 3rd in the 2010 election, with 13% of the vote.

My previous post on Guinea's upcoming election is HERE.

UPDATE: Good article from Reuters on why Condé is likely to win re-election ("Despite a stagnant economy and an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus still simmering after nearly two years, Conde is a strong favorite thanks largely to deep divisions within an opposition riven by ethnic and personal rivalries.")
More on the eight candidates (from Jeune Afrique via the African Elections Project Blog) after the jump:

Alpha Condé (RPG)
AFPL Favorite to succeed himself as many past presidents, despite the potential alliance of convenience between Diallo and Moussa Dadis Camara, the current head of the state has every intention of re-enlist. "Those who prevent me from succeeding are not yet born," he threw in an interview with Jeune Afrique in May. The message is clear to Diallo, leader of the opposition.
Determined to stay above the fray until the campaign, Alpha Conde continues to be inflexible, either on the local elections, which his opponents would organize before the presidential election, or in the case file concerning Moussa Dadis Camara. At 77, the occupant of Sékhoutoureya unabated.

Diallo (UFDG)
AFPNominee July 25 by his party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), Diallo, 63, does not beat around the bush: he hopes to "change the course of history" of the Guinea. The losing candidate in the 2010 presidential continues to challenge the legitimacy of President Alpha Condé, accusing him of having manipulated the ethnic issue to come to power.
If he has failed to achieve the organization of local elections before the presidential Diallo played the card of political alliance, controversial even in his party, with former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara. The latter, charged July 8 in Ouagadougou by Guinean magistrates investigating the massacre of 28 September 2009, could fetch many voices in Forest Guinea.

Sidya Touré (UFR)
AFP: Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999, Sydia Touré second opposition figure, is since 2000 the president of the Union of Republican Forces (UFR). Candidate in the 2010 presidential election, he won 13% of votes in the first round, coming in third. He was then asked to vote Diallo in the second round, ushering in a de facto alliance between the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea and his own party.
This, however, ended in July when Sydia Touré said he wanted to regain his freedom. Licensee Business Law and a graduate of the National School of Treasury in Paris, he was sworn in on 22 August by the Faculty and advocates, to 70 years for a consensual and non communitarian behind his candidacy person . 

Lansana Kouyate (SARP)
AFP: The candidate of the Party of Hope for National Development (SARP) is convinced of his victory in the presidential election of 11 October. The former prime minister has said on Tuesday 1 st September to journalists present at the presentation of his case to the Constitutional Court, not wanting to hear about a "sense of defeat."
Very critical of the electoral roll, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) or local elected officials, whom he accuses of being subservient to power, this native of maritime Guinea, a former diplomat and economist, had arrived at the fourth Presidential 2010, with 7.75% of votes. Lansana Kouyate, 65, had then allied with Alpha Condé. 

Papa Koly Kourouma (GRUP)
Facebook profile: The former Minister adviser to the president, sworn in August 21 by his party, Generations for Reconciliation, the Union and Prosperity (GRUP) starts for the second time in the race. Fifth Presidential 2010, with 5.74% of votes in the first round, he was one of the architects of the election of Alpha Condé. But Papa Koly Kourouma has gradually distanced himself from the head of state, even closer to the opponent Diallo.
He criticized in particular the tenant Sékhoutoureya not honoring its commitments and affirms the Condé candidate had then promised to appoint the Prime Minister or President of the National Assembly. A native of Guinea forest, Papa Koly Kourouma had said he would fade from the presidential race if Camara managed to drop his case. 

Georges Gandhi Tounkara (UGDD)
Facebook profile: The former Minister of Higher Education, to the head of the Guinean Union for Democracy and Development (UGDD) in March 2015, was also a candidate in the presidential election. "Before the misery of the population, poverty, distress and growing unemployment, given the enrichment of some and the impoverishment of others, (...) we must offer something better," said he has 31 August told reporters.
Georges Gandhi Tounkara asserted, however, that its effective participation in the election would be subject to the implementation of the Global Political Agreement signed on 20 August. It notably calls for changes in the electoral register and adjustments in the composition of the CENI. 

Faya Lansana Millimono (BL)
Facebook profile: This time, Lansana Millimono Faya decided to appear in person. Former director of the presidential campaign of 2010 New Generation for the Republic (NGR) of Abe Sylla, now rallied Alpha Condé, he was invested candidate of the Liberal Bloc.
Very clever, however one that will measure the true extent of this party, which has not participated in the last parliamentary elections in 2013 and has struggled to meet the 800 million Guinean francs necessary for the submission of the application. Recently campaign in Forest Guinea, a supporter of the return of Moussa Dadis Camara in the country, Faya Lansana Millimono particularly criticizes the economic balance of the outgoing president, whom he accused of using Ebola to camouflage its failure. 

Marie Madeleine Dioubaté (PEG)
Facebook profile: The only woman in the presidential election will have waited until the last moment, Tuesday, September 1, to file his application. President of the Party of Ecologists of Guinea, daughter of a former opponent of the regime of Sékou Touré, Mary Magdalene Dioubaté will be challenged and is preparing to play the card of the technique.
With projects it has flown throughout the country, especially in agriculture, it says it wants to fight against poverty and underdevelopment, especially in the area of ​​housing and health, noting that women and Young people are particularly affected. Marie Madeleine Dioubaté will be the second woman, after Daraba Saran Camara in 2010 to be presidential candidate in Guinea.
Source: Jeune Afrique