By: Audrey Raymonda John
In a bid to ensure a fair and credible election on June 24th, 2023, the Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Sierra Leone Evin Incir has said they will be deploying twenty-eight long-term observers to cover all sixteen districts in Sierra Leone.
Evin Incir made the above disclosure at an open press session held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, at Aberdeen in Freetown.
Addressing members of the press and other civil society organizations, Evin Incir said members of the European Parliament started its activities in Freetown on the 11th of May with the arrival of a core team of ten election experts.
Touching on the twenty-eight long-term observers, Evin Incir said they will observe the election preparation, the election campaign and the activities of electoral stakeholders.
She also stated that closer to the election day, forty short-term observers will join the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the voting, counting and tabulation of the results.
In addition to that she made it clear that a delegation of members of the European Parliament and approximately ten locally recruited short-term observers from the diplomatic mission of the EU member state accredited to Sierra Leone will also join the EU EOM to observe the election day proceedings.
Speaking further the Chief Observer said at full strength the EU EOM will comprise some one hundred observers drawn from twenty-six European Union Member states, with Canada and Norway inclusive.
“Our aim in Sierra Leone is to support democratic consolidation. It is a joint responsibility of all political parties, candidates, civil society organizations, media, and the electoral administration to maintain a peaceful pre-election environment in which fundamental rights and freedoms of all Sierra Leonean and respected”, she stated.
The Chief Observer in continuation revealed that the EU EOM will issue a preliminary statement and hold a press conference in Freetown two days after the elections. She said the mission will remain in Sierra Leone until the completion of the electoral process, including in the case of a second round of the presidential election.
Evin Incir opined that the mission will also follow any potential complaints and appeal process and the final report offering recommendations for future electoral processes will be presented thereafter.
She concluded by saying that the EU EOM is bound by a code of conduct, which requires strict neutrally and non-interference and will undertake its work in accordance with the declaration of principles for International Election Observation endorsed under UN auspices in 2005.
Dilating on social media involvement, Evin Incir said the team will be made up of special people who will handle and deliver messages about election processes.