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| - Guineans cast their ballots Sunday to decide whether to adopt a new constitution, and to pick their MPs, in the most momentous vote in the West African state in years. The poll is deeply contested. Critics say the constitutional referendum is a Trojan horse that would allow President Alpha Conde to run for president again. Since mid-October, people have taken to the streets in droves to protest against changing the constitution. At least 30 protesters have been killed in the demonstrations to date, as well as one gendarme. Here is a factfile: President Alpha Conde's government has argued that the 2010 constitution needs to be changed as it was approved under a transition government after military rule. The draft includes a raft of progressive provisions, especially for women. It would outlaw female circumcision, for example, as well as underage and forced marriages. No single gender would be able to make up more than two-thirds of government members either. Elsewhere, the new constitution would allow 18-year-olds to run for parliament. Currently only 25-year-olds are eligible. A new constitution would mean a new republic, with the presidential term counter reset to zero. Both the 2010 constitution and the new draft constitution limit presidential mandates to two terms. Conde, 81, would be able to run for president again even though he is coming to the end of his second term this year. The new constitution would limit one presidential term to six years, rather than the five years hitherto. Critics argue the purpose of proposing a new constitution is to allow the octogenarian president to stay in power. Originally due to be held in 2019, parliamentary elections have been delayed several times. Opposition figures suspect coupling the poll with the constitutional referendum is a way to bring more people to the ballot box. The head of Guinea's electoral authority, Amadou Salif Kebe, said in February that the parliamentary election had only been delayed because of technical and logistical problems. Alpha Conde's Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party is fielding candidates, as well as several small parties. The RPG currently holds 53 seats in the 114-seat national assembly. The major opposition parties are boycotting the poll, condemning it as a "constitutional coup". This group includes the leading opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea -- which currently has 37 seats -- as well as the 10-seat Union of Republican Forces (UFR) party. Parliamentary terms in Guinea run for five years. For the constitutional referendum, voters will receive a white ballot sheet saying "YES" and a red ballot sheet saying "NO," according to information provided by the RPG. Voters will then cast their ballot in secret, discarding the unwanted sheet, before proceeding to another booth to vote in the parliamentary election. Some 7.7 million are registered to vote in Sunday's polls, according to Guinea's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). But the opposition -- and the very few international observers -- distrust the electoral roll. This week, the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), gathering French-speaking states, said it had problems identifying 2.49 million people on the electoral roll, pointing to duplicate names and people who had died. Polls open at 7 am and close at 6 pm on Sunday, according to CENI president Amadou Salif Kebe. He added that the results would be announced "as soon as possible" and estimated the process could take as long as a week. Either way, Guinea's election year will likely not end on Sunday. President Conde's second mandate runs out this year, and voters are expected to be called to the polls before then. eml/nb/ri
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