By: Hafsatu Z Bangura
The National Secretary General for the Ruling party (SLPP) Umaro Napoleon has in a press conference held at their party headquarters in Freetown debunked claims made by the opposition presidential candidate Dr Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara that 90% of what the opposition aspirant said was an attack on the electoral commission and its commissioners filled with lies, hate and an attempt by the opposition party to disrupt the peaceful elections and reverse of the democratic gains Sierra Leone has made since the return to multi-party democracy.
He went on that the controvertible statements from the APC Presidential candidate are nothing more than a compendium of unsubstantiated claims, conjectures, blatant inaccuracies and preposterous allegations by a candidate whom he said is apprehensive of an embarrassing defeat at the forthcoming polls.
Mr Koroma went on that they have faced with series of attacks on party supporters, threatening and abusive language with evidence to its effect.
According to the Secretary-General, the opposition party has never distanced itself from the inciting statements or violence of its party supporters on innocent civilians.
He went on that following the malicious lies cooked by the opposition the demand for the resignation of the Chief Electoral Commissioner and other Electoral Commissioners is an outrageous attempt to use the Board of Electoral Commissioners as scapegoats for the ill-preparedness of the APC party for the forthcoming multi-tier elections.
That the suggestion made by the APC presidential candidate to replace the Board of Electoral Commissioners to conduct Sierra Leone’s national election is disrespectful and an attack on the sovereignty of the nation and a spectre of the main opposition party’s unfitness to be elected as President and Sovereign Head of State, he narrated.
Mr Napoleon went on that the appointment of the Chief Electoral Commissioner was approved by the parliament of Sierra Leone following due parliamentary scrutiny by the ruling and opposition members of parliament including the APC and replies to the allegations that the accusation of the chief electoral commissioner being a member of a political party is a smear campaign by the APC, which he said should be roundly rejected by Sierra Leoneans.
The National Secretary General added that the announcement of the multi-tier elections was made by the ECSL commissioner and President Dr Julius Maada Bio over a year ago to provide all political parties adequate time to plan and prepare for the forthcoming elections with several engagements being made over the last 12 months involving all political parties and election management bodies through the political party liaison committee and election steering committee (co-chaired by the Chief Minister and United Nations Resident Co-Ordinator to promote free, fair and credible elections.
He continued that the opposition party raised concerns relating to the electoral process and that these concerns were addressed and settled in the presence of other political parties and civil society members.
He described the opposition’s Presidential Aspirant demands and deadline as merely characteristic shenanigans by a political party desperately seeking a postponement of the forthcoming elections that have the tendency to create a constitutional crisis in the country, that that Sierra Leone People’s party (SLPP) will stoutly reject any attempt to disrupt the June 2023 elections as a result of APC’s failure to prepare for the forthcoming elections he said.
Mr Umaro Napelon asserts that there is no law that requires ECSL to give a national register of voters to political parties and that any attempt of the ECSL to provide political parties disaggregated data of voters, including voters identification numbers, voters addresses, dates and places of birth will not only be in contravention of the privacy and confidentiality of voters but also endanger the lives and security of voters as he said the voter ID cards issued to all voters have sufficient information about all registered voters in Sierra Leone.
Furthermore, in the press release the National Secretary General of the main ruling party states that the opposition’s presidential aspirant of his repeated assertions in quote “the only outcome of a free and fair elections the APC will accept is an APC victory”. This he said sets a dangerous tone for premeditated post-election violence by the APC and its Presidential candidate, sowing the seed of post-election violence through such assertion he said.
In conclusion, he said the SLPP is surprised by the silence of members of the diplomatic community and civil society organizations to condemn the opposition’s systematic inciting pattern of violence and threats to undo our democratic, peace and national security especially through the opposition’s mouthpiece ‘ADEBAYOR’ whom he alleged is being financed by senior members of the APC.
Mr Napoleon mentioned that they expect local and international election monitoring bodies to issue a statement on the claims made by the APC Presidential Candidate, as he said failure to do so will undermine their role as moral guarantors of democratic governance.
The National Chairman and Campaign Chairman for the Ruling party (SLPP) said the necessity to give a retorted release of lies bandit by the opposition party are traded around hate and if not challenged can be admitted to be true.
He went on that the opposition party has on time and again challenged keeping their peace as a party with a continued trademark of lies and intimidation.
He also accused the opposition of sponsoring ADEBAYOR in using the media to incite people with false information creating mayhem and chaos for peaceful citizens of the country.
Dr Prince Harding went on that their party believes in a democratic process, and that the history of the party is laced with peace and democratic tolerance as he said their party brought independence.
He urged all supporters of the SLPP party to be law abiding and peaceful being confident of a resounding victory in the forthcoming elections for a second term.
