The president is elected for a five-year term by the people through a two-round system (i.e. if no candidate secures a majority of the votes, there is a runoff between the top two vote-getters).
[1][2] Voters must be at least 18 years old and Guinean citizens in full possession of civil and political rights.
[2] When Guinea gained its independence from France in 1958, Ahmed Sékou Touré became its first president, as his Parti démocratique de Guinée (DPG, Democratic Party of Guinea) had won 56 of 60 seats in the 1957 Territorial Assembly election.
[8] Shortly after Conté's death in December 2008, Moussa Dadis Camara seized power.
[4][7] In December 2009, Camara was shot in the head in an assassination attempt and left the country to obtain medical care.