Guinea’s former opposition leader Mamadou Ouli Ba has been appointed prime minister by the country’s military leadership, a week after the government was abruptly dissolved.
His appointment came amid growing dissatisfaction with the military regime.
Clashes between police and demonstrators during a nationwide workers’ strike left two people dead on Monday.
Trade unions are calling for lower food prices as Guineans struggle with high living costs.
Mr Barr, widely known in Guinea as Bar Woolley called on trade unions to call off the strike and to “show us what we can do together to solve the big challenges gradually and step by step.”
He urged them to “emphasize it.”Trained economists are expected to not only form a new government to replace the ousted one but also take steps to ease the economic hardship of millions of Guineans.
The oath of office of the new Prime Minister was attended by interim President Mamadi Doumbouya, who led the Guinean National Army to overthrow President Alpha Condé, who was elected in September 2021.
Barr, 65, has been a popular figure in Guinean politics since the early 1990s.
He served as Minister of Reconciliation in the Accord government formed in 2007.
He was implicated in the attack on the Condé presidential palace in 2011 and spent four years in exile in France, but returned to France in 2016 after being pardoned by the president.
Guinea will hold elections to restore democratic rule within 10 months when a 24-month transition period established by the military junta and the Ecowas regional bloc expires.