Sierra Leone’s two main parties traded verbal blows on Friday (Mar 9), with the opposition accusing the government of planning to announce an unconfirmed victory for its candidate in presidential elections. The West African country held presidential, parliamentary and local council elections on Wednesday, which passed off largely peacefully until an opposition leader’s residence was raided. The National Election Commission (NEC) has asked for patience as it counts the ballots, saying it will prioritise accuracy over speed. It said on Friday it had yet to reach the 25 per cent mark required to release provisional results.
However, the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) said in a statement it had a “comfortable lead” over its rivals, causing the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) to accuse them of “endangering public order and national security.”
The SLPP claimed the APC was preparing to release “fake presidential results”, adding that it remained “confident of a clear victory”.
It comes after the opposition party’s leader Julius Maada Bio’s residence was raided by police on a bizarre “hacking” accusation despite Sierra Leone using a manual voting system.
Full Article: Sierra Leone parties spar as vote count continues – Channel NewsAsia.