On Tuesday, 27 March 2018, the people of Sierra Leone will do it all over again. They will be going out to vote in what was announced by the country’s Chief Electoral Commissioner – Mr Mohammed N’fa-Alie Conteh as a run-off election, to decide who will be the next president. After seven long days of nail biting suspense, voters in the country have finally been informed by the Election Commission that following the counting and recounting of ballots across the country – including the nullification of votes in polling stations where evidence of electoral malpractice was found, none of the 15 candidates has won the required 55% to form a government. The run-off is a two-horse race affair between the ruling APC candidate – Dr Samura Kamara who polled 42.7%, and the opposition SLPP candidate – Julius Maada Bio who received slightly better with 43.5%.
What the rest of the results show is the massive gulf between the two traditional parties – APC and SLPP, and the other fourteen parties, in terms of popularity.
But notwithstanding this harsh reality, both the ruling APC and the SLPP will now be appealing to the supporters of the other parties for their votes at the run-off.
This is highly encouraging news for many in Sierra Leone – including the Sierra Leone Telegraph, that have always been advocating for a government of national unity in Sierra Leone, to promote national cohesion and ensure that the best human resource available across all of the political parties, can be concertedly co-ordinated and utilised to form a government that is best capable of managing the affairs of the country.
Full Article: Sierra Leone heads into run-off elections – as coalition government looks likely – The Sierra Leone Telegraph.