By Alpha Abu and Saio Marrah
The Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone, ECSL has dismissed social media claims that the institution was subjected to duress by President Julius Maada Bio or any government official during the recent electioneering process, describing such claims as “malicious and dangerous’’ to the country’s democracy.
In a statement issued on Monday 24th July, ECSL reasserted its position of having conducted credible and fair elections in June, this coming in the wake of what it says are “repetitive calls mostly indirectly from some quarters’’ urging the institution to take actions which it believes “do not fall under the Laws of Sierra Leone”.
A statement from the commission dated Monday 24th July 2023 also The statement further highlighted what ECSL sees as the complicity of some of its partners in such ‘’harmful disinformation’’-a concern which it clearly states “can affect the peace which Sierra Leoneans continue to experience after the elections”. The statement adds that “The ECSL is proud of its service to Sierra Leone in delivering one of the most credible, inclusive , transparent, and peaceful elections since the reintroduction of multi-party democracy in Sierra Leone’’.
The commission emphasised that its actions before, during and after the polls “have been strictly guided by national statutes and local and international best practices’’, and that the election results “reflect the expressed will of the voters’’.
The electoral body admitted that there were technical challenges and capacity issues in its operations during the electioneering period which it said will be reviewed and praised the staff and contract workers for ensuring a credible process.
According to ECSL parties having concerns about the elections can “use the appropriate and legal processes’’.
Meanwhile the Chief Electoral Commissioner has told members of the All Political Parties Association, APPA that there are no court cases against his commission since results were announced because they acted in accordance with the law.
Mohamed Kenewui Konneh said what the ECSL has achieved would be an example from which other countries learn. He said at the end of every electoral process there would always be lessons to learn and areas to improve on and announced that his staff would soon retreat to review the electoral activities and examine both the strengths and weaknesses of the last exercise with the aim of making improvements.
He also called on political parties complaining about not getting seats in parliament to seek a review of relevant electoral laws dealing with the qualification threshold to ensure that small parties would enter parliament.
Konneh told the gathering that: “If political parties think that ECSL should project results during tally, these are things we can have in the Public Elections Act. If we think that, the electoral commission should publish disaggregated data; these are things that we could have in the Public Elections Act”.
He noted that what the law says is what they have complied with, which according to him, pointed out that the commission releases the certified summary of district results to political parties. Thus, he said the request for the commission to publish the disaggregated result is not in the law and that it is not mandatory and even if the commission needs to consider that there would be no time frame.
In his congratulatory message, the Chairman of All Political Parties Association (APPA) Prince Coker, said based on the assessment of the outcome of the election result and as participants in the just concluded elections they were satisfied with the result. He said: “We believe that the elections were free, fair and credible and all the political parties had a level playing field”.
The APPA Chairman called on political parties to do their assignment well by working with their constituents and prepare for the next elections.
The Secretary General of APPA, Ibrahim S. Sesay, said now that the elections are over, political parties should focus on national development.
It will be recalled that the main opposition All People’s Congress questioned the outcome of the 24th June General Elections, outlining a series of demands, and insisting on not taking part in the governance system until their concerns which include a rerun of the elections were addressed.
With the exception of Hon. Mohamed Bangura, all other APC Members of Parliament and Local Council representatives have since refused to take up duty, heeding their party’s call for a boycott of all governance activities.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (26/07/23)
