AFRICA/GUINEA - Military regime appoints new Prime Minister; “We need to get to work immediately, because the economic situation is extremely serious,” Church sources say

Conakry (Agenzia Fides) – The military junta has appointed Guinean Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore. Doré will lead the government of national unity under the agreement concluded on January 15, in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso (see Fides 16/1/2010). The agreement was signed by the head of the military junta, Moussa Camara Dadis, the interim president of Guinea, General Sékouba Konate, and the President of Burkina Faso and Guinea mediator in the crisis, Blaise Compaoré.
Jean-Marie Dore, Secretary General of the Union for Progress of Guinea, is considered one of the main figures in Guinean politics. Under the agreements, Doré will not be able to run in the presidential elections that should take place within 6 months. "The appointment of Doré means that the opposition, despite its internal divisions, managed to find a common position" local Church sources tell Fides. "This is a good sign that encourages hope for the future."
Fides' source continues: "Guinea is in urgent need of a policy of national unity in order to emerge from the grave economic and financial crisis in which it finds itself. For at least 8 months, civil servants have received no salary. Even the mining businesses (iron, bauxite and gold) have been hit, with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs."
"In this regard, Camara was renegotiating mining concessions, and perhaps this is why the Western countries ostracized him, in addition to his responsibility in the massacre of September 28. Renegotiating mining concessions is an important act, because Guinea gets very little from the sale of its natural resources. The country is rich (bauxite, iron, gold), but the population continues to live in poverty," concludes the source. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 19/1/2010)