Coup leader parades through Guinea capital

Experts: Coup could be best thing
But opposition politicians and experts cautioned that a military takeover could be the best thing for Guinea, a nation ruled by the same man for the past 24 years.

The constitution calls for the head of the parliament to succeed the president. But Africa expert Peter Pham says it would be a mistake to regard a constitution drawn up by the supporters of a man who never intended to relinquish power as a legitimate instrument.

Pham says Aboubacar Sompare, the man hand-picked by Conte to lead the National Assembly, was so unpopular that Conte was forced to delay the opening of parliament so he could assure his chosen successor had the needed number of votes.

"Even with the old man standing there coercing them to vote for him, he almost didn't have a majority," said Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University. "The international community would be mistaken to ask Guinea to blindly adhere to the legality of a document Conte created, which was not the result of any democratic process."

For years, rumors would come and go that Conte was in fact dead — forcing him to appear on TV to reassure the public. His declining health paralleled the decay of what was once one of Africa's most promising states, blessed with diamonds, gold and half the world's reserves of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum.

Watchdog: Most corrupt state
By 2002, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund suspended aid because of bad governance. It was recently ranked the most corrupt state in Africa by corruption watchdog Transparency International.

Statistics paint a picture of a country in an economic tailspin. From a tame 4 percent in the 1990s, inflation is now over 20 percent and growth has been cut in half. Even by African standards, Guineans are poor, earning on average just $91 per month, a sum that led to riots last year when a government salary could no longer allow a family to buy a bag of rice.

As the nation's quality of living deteriorated, Conte became increasingly paranoid, constantly reshuffling his government. A total of 172 different people have served as ministers in his cabinet, according to a report by New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The most serious recent challenge to Conte's rule came two years ago as demonstrators called for him to step down and Guinea descended into chaos. Conte responded by declaring martial law and sent tanks into the streets of the capital. Security forces killed dozens of demonstrators.

More on Lansana Conte

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