By Nasratu Kargbo
The Chairman of the Political Parties Regulatory Commission (PPRC) Abdulai M. Bangura has warned that if issues related to violence are not addressed beforehand, things could get out of control in the June elections.
He made this statement on Wednesday whilst reacting to findings presented by the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) on citizens’ views on the likelihood of election violence. Bangura said PPRC holds the view that the likelihood of violence exists.
He explained that as an institution they are aware of some parties that have made the political landscape toxic, citing how they have started getting incidents of people preventing their opponents from campaigning in certain places.
He said verbal attacks and intimidation are the main causes of electoral violence and spoke of how PPRC has recorded cases of public insults and provocation against opponents that have led to violence.
He stated that the feed that they are getting is not consistent with the response citizens gave to Lavali.
Also responding to the citizens’ manifesto demanding the paying of political party executives from the Consolidated Fund, Bangura said they had proposed that in the bill they took to parliament, but it was expunged by members of parliament.
He explained that they deal with political parties and know their issues, stating that giving them subvention is a way of capacitating them.
Research and Policy Director for IGR Fredline M’Cormack-Hale in her presentation stated that 77% of respondents in a survey believe the election will be free of violence while 20% are of the view that violence will be an issue.
Also, intimidation and verbal abuse of opponents got 52% as the major cause of violence. 7% think preventing opponents from campaigning in their communities could be the major cause of violence, whilst 5% think it could be ethnic tension. Also, 4% said violence could emanate from election malpractice, another 4% attributed it to disagreement and 3% said preventing people from registering to vote could ignite violence as well.
M’Cormack-Hale said 72% of the citizens think that the police can provide a secure environment in which Sierra Leoneans can vote safely.
Executive Director of IGR, Andrew Lavali in his statement admitted that the PPRC Chairman was right, noting that there are differences in what the experts and citizens are saying.
He disclosed that they interviewed 24,000 (twenty-four thousand) people, comprising an equal percentage of both males and females. The survey was sponsored by Irish Aid.
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