Monitors from the African Union and the West African regional bloc have said Guinea’s recent presidential election was conducted properly, amid rising tensions ahead of the release of official results.

Tuesday’s announcement came a day after leading opposition challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo said he had won the first round on Sunday after suggesting the poll was rigged, comments that set a showdown with incumbent President Alpha Conde. 

Diallo’s claim was swiftly rejected by the electoral commission, which called it “premature” and “void”.

Addressing reporters in the capital, Conakry, Augustin Matata Ponyo, the AU’s head of mission in Guinea, said on Tuesday the ballot took place “in transparency”.

Jose Maria Neves, the head of the monitoring mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc, agreed the voting process was lawful and urged candidates to “use legal channels to settle election disputes”.

The government rejected allegations of rigging and said only the official electoral authority can declare the results, which are due within a week.

The commission will announce provisional results within three days of receiving the last polling-station tally. 

The Constitutional Court will then have eight days to declare a winner. A second round of voting, if needed, is scheduled for November 24.

The government said in a statement on Monday that the opposition “clearly intended to create chaos and to call into question the real results”.

Meanwhile, the United Nations, AU and the 15-nation ECOWAS called the premature declaration of results “regrettable”.

“This state of affairs is not conducive to preserving calm,” they said in a joint statement.

Diallo, 68, on Monday had called on “fellow citizens who love peace and justice … to defend this democratic victory”.

But joyous celebrations from opposition supporters in Conakry quickly descended into violent clashes with security forces.

Diallo tweeted on Monday night that security forces had shot dead “three boys” and wounded several people. He blamed Conde for the “crimes”. 

Guinea’s government did not confirm the deaths. An AFP news agency journalist saw three injured people and heard gunfire in a Conakry suburb on Monday night.

(AFP)