The Sierra Leone opposition rejects the general elections in their entirety and demands their repetition in six months

The APC, as it already did in the presidential elections, now denies the legislative triumph of the government party

July 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The main opposition party in Sierra Leone, the All People’s Congress (APC), has completely rejected the victory of the government party of the African country, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), in the general elections on 24 June, topped off this past Saturday with the official declaration of his victory in the legislative part of the elections.

In addition to boycotting their presence in the country’s institutions as a protest gesture, the APC has also demanded the repetition of the elections within a maximum period of six months under a new electoral commission, the resignation of those responsible for the country’s security and international sanctions. on a trip against the current government, led by President Julius Maada Bio.

According to data published by the country’s electoral supervisory body, President Bio’s SLPP has won 60 percent of the seats in the new Parliament, with 81 deputies, while the APC has won 54 seats, including the one belonging to the capital, Freetown; results that the party of opposition leader Samura Kamara has rejected outright.

In a forceful statement issued on Saturday afternoon, the APC “unequivocally rejects the results of the elections in Sierra Leone” given the “blatant irregularities and violations of the electoral procedure”, and declares that it “will not participate at any level of Government, including the parliamentarian, as the results have been rigged to give the SLPP an unfair majority at all levels”.

Likewise, the APC demands the immediate resignation of the entire electoral commission, beginning with its president, Mohamed Konneh, whom it accuses of “bias” and ends by asking for “a repetition of the elections within six months”, under the supervision of “credible people and institutions that guarantee a fair and transparent process,” according to the note collected by the Sierra Leonean news portal Cokorioko.

The opposition does not stop there, but even calls for the resignation of the entire security leadership in the country, from the Inspector General of Police, Fayia Sellu, to the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Patrick Lavahun, passing by the coordinator of National Security; Francis Langumba Keili, considering all those indicated as instruments of President Bio.

Lastly, the opposition asks the international community to impose sanctions against the Sierra Leonean government, starting with its “illegitimate president”, understanding that all of them have “played an instrumental role in wresting the people’s mandate in these elections”. .

It should be remembered that, this past Monday, the EU observers made public a preliminary statement in which they pointed out “lack of transparency” in the reception of sensitive material and the first phases of counting in the regional centers, since they could not observe ” significantly verification of the results forms.

The vote and, especially, the repercussions that it may have at a political and economic level, will mark the future in the short term in the country, which aspires to consolidate the democratic advances obtained in the two decades that have passed since the end of the civil war ( 1991-2002), which left around 120,000 dead.