Guinea's trade unions and opposition parties called on President Lansana Conté to resign, accusing him of mismanaging the economy and abusing his authority.
On January 16, Conté offered to cut fuel duty, raise teachers' salaries and address police corruption.
[5] A general strike was called by the United Trade Union of Guinean Workers (the USTG) in an attempt to force the president to resign.
They cite repeated scares about his health, sudden and chaotic cabinet reshuffles and his recent personal intervention to free from jail two former allies accused of graft.
In Conakry, a crowd estimated at 30,000 marched on the National Assembly of Guinea, but were blocked at the 8 November Bridge, where the police allegedly opened fire.
[1] On January 23, the three most prominent trade unionists were arrested by Presidential troops: Rabiatou Sérah Diallo of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers, Ibrahima Fofana of the United Trade Union of Guinean Workers and Yamadou Touré of the National Organization of Free Unions of Guinea.
[11] Conté also agreed to lower the prices of fuel and rice, and on January 27, Fofana announced the end of the strike.
[17] At least one person was reportedly killed by security forces when protesters threw rocks at a car in which Conté was said to be travelling.
[19] In a statement given to BBC on February 11, USTG leader Ibrahima Fofana declared that the unions now demanded the dismissal of the entire government, including the president.
[22] On February 13, with a curfew in force for all but four hours of the day (4 to 8 pm), Conakry was reported to be largely under control, although some gunfire was still heard in the city.
[29] A proposal to leave Eugène Camara in office as prime minister for three months as a trial period was rejected by the unions on February 20.
[32] Shortly afterward, however, Conté agreed to appoint a new prime minister from a list of individuals chosen by the unions and representatives of civil society.
He chose Lansana Kouyaté as the new prime minister on February 26, and union leaders declared an end to the strike.
Opposition spokesperson Mamadou Ba warned that it would be necessary to keep up the pressure on Conté to ensure that he permitted Kouyaté to do his job.
[33] Kouyaté was sworn in as prime minister on March 1; Conté did not attend the ceremony, which was instead presided over by Eugène Camara.