The Electoral Fee of Sierra Leone (ECSL) released nationwide election outcomes Tuesday, which confirmed incumbent President Julius Maada Bio gained over 56 p.c of the nationwide vote. Chairman of the ECSL Mohamed Konneh introduced the outcomes to a room of individuals, together with Bio and his supporters. The outcomes imply that Bio obtained the minimal variety of votes to keep away from a runoff below Sierra Leone’s electoral system. Nevertheless, opposition supporters accuse Konneh of being a partisan of Bio’s political social gathering, Sierra Leone Folks’s Celebration (SLPP).
Bio’s important challenger from the opposition social gathering, All Folks’s Congress (APC), was Dr. Samura Kamara. Kamara took to Twitter on Tuesday to query the integrity of the election. Kamara stated, “[T]hese outcomes are usually not credible and I categorically reject the end result so introduced by the electoral fee.”
Election observers just like the Carter Center famous irregularities within the election. ECSL was unusually slow to launch unofficial polling station counts over the weekend. Unofficial polling counts are sometimes used to cross-verify remaining outcomes. Jonathan Rubin, a JURIST supply embedded throughout the opposition, claimed that APC’s inside social gathering vote counts indicated victories in districts that had been assigned to SLPP by the electoral fee.
The election noticed a rise in pressure between Sierra Leone’s two important political events, in addition to some instances of violence. The evening earlier than the election, regional actors mediated discussions between APC and SLPP. The discussions resulted in some concessions from SLPP. These included the release of 30 political prisoners. But on Sunday, members of APC barricaded themselves of their Freetown workplaces whereas authorities forces fired reside bullets and tear gasoline inside. Regional actors just like the African Union urged peace and restraint within the aftermath of the election.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
