2012017
AFP
Francophonie chief Abdou Diouf Friday deplored a political logjam in Guinea where the government and opposition have been unable to agree on a date for legislative polls to end a period of transition.

Diouf, an ex-Senegalese president who heads the organisation representing the French-speaking world, said his body was "concerned by the need to complete the institutional structure" in the troubled west African nation.

"Before I arrived here I thought I was going to take party in ongoing dialogue, a dialogue that was already advanced," said Diouf, who found talks had stalled.

"In my meetings I insisted on the need for a resumption of this dialogue but I felt a kind of wall of mistrust and misunderstanding. I think we should tear down that wall."

More than a year has passed since Alpha Conde became the first democratically-elected president of Guinea, which had been ruled by two successive strongmen since independence from France in 1958.

When longtime ruler Lansana Conte died in 2008, a coup and political crisis ensued until a transition government was set up in January 2010, leading the nation to presidential elections in November that year.

Set down for December 29, 2011, the legislative polls were meant to conclude the period of transition but have been postponed indefinitely amid ongoing bickering between the ruling party and opposition.