By Nasratu Kargbo
According to a report published by the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), 69% of respondents believe that the Opposition’s role after losing an election should be to accept defeat and collaborate with the government in a bid to foster development in the country.
One in four individuals that is 26% of Sierra Leoneans say they believe the role of the Opposition party is to monitor and criticize the government in order to hold the government accountable. The report indicated that 5% of the respondents did not agree with either of the above, refused to answer and some said they don't know.
The report titled ‘Elections, Democracy, and the Sierra Leone Economy’ was published on the 14th of September 2023. “This, however, is arguably a core responsibility of the opposition in a functional democracy according to many democracy experts,” the report states.
Highlighting the public’s perception of the results, it noted that the masses have different views with 62% of respondents saying the results announced for the general elections reflect the actual outcome, whilst nearly four in 10 express some doubts, which makes for 14% of respondents who believe there should have been a runoff and 13% believe that the Main Opposition All People’s Congress’s candidate Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara won a majority with over 55% of the votes in the first round.
2% of the respondents think that the opposition candidate won with less than 55% of the total votes cast, whilst 12% believe that neither President Julius Maada Bio nor Samura got 55% of votes, and according to them, there should have been a runoff. 8% said they don’t know and 1% refused to answer the question.
The report explained that one thousand and two hundred (1200) people were interviewed, with a margin error of 3% at a 95% confidence interval. It explained that a face-to-face interview was conducted from the 7th to 11th of September 2023 with respondents being Sierra Leoneans aged eighteen and above.
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