STANDARD TIMES PRESS SIERRA LEONE EDITORIAL:Resisting political pressure PAGE

When the 28th of July was announced by His Excellency President Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah as the date on which presidential and parliamentary elections 2007 would be held we the Standard Times figured that something must be fundamentally wrong.
Like many Sierra Leoneans, we were strongly of the view that the most appropriate person to have made that all important announcement should have been the Chief Electoral Commissioner.
This view was based on the premise that were the date for elections under the purview of the Chief Electoral Commissioner to decide such a decision would have been made only after all the other political parties and stakeholders would been consulted and consensus reached.
The constitution unfortunately however does not mandate that but rests the responsibility with the President acting within constitutional boundaries.
Unfortunately, because were it otherwise, complains over the date chosen would not have arisen as they now have from some aggrieved parties charging inappropriateness of the date for diverse reasons; one amongst which is the usual inclement atmosphere the weather conditions of that particular month engender.
Notwithstanding the President’s unconvincing claim that all with relevance to the issue were consulted, there are complains, the loudest of which emanates from the PMDC, a legitimate political party in its own right, that make the whole episode leave a sour taste in the mouth with an unease the date was “fixed”.
We here at the Standard Times are stoutly supportive of the view that the date is grossly inappropriate for the holding of any credible elections intended to guarantee fair play by ensuring greater voter turnout so that the results would be truly representative of the views of the majority of Sierra Leoneans – in a spirit of true democracy.
Sierra Leoneans are aware of the fact that the end of the month of July, the date slated for the elections to be held, is slap in the middle of the worst period of the raining season and would be a definite hindrance to many to exercise their franchise. In short the old and aging, the disabled or indisposed for one reason or another who would not dare the inevitable rains would be robbed their constitutional rights.
Accordingly, the danger associated with such down pouring of rains is that our roads which are already in devastated state become extremely terrible. It becomes extremely difficult to traverse those terrible areas of our country even by our own compatriots let alone foreign observers.
We have the conviction that this government is very much aware of the disastrous state of our roads, many of which become totally unmotorable especially in remote communities and this whole thing is about making effective monitoring by international observers impossible.
A cynical old Krio man dubs it: “rigging by cunny.”
Indeed, because sometime-SLPP strongholds like Kailahun and Pujehun districts (the most backward areas of this country) are no longer a certainty and will definitely not be motorable and therefore inaccessible except by air. There would therefore not be any robust monitoring and any kinds of games can be perpetrated there without the outside world knowing until it is too late to correct to affect the results which would already have been endorsed by the international community based on the partial limited assessment by the international observers.

Clearly the absence of international observers in these areas would give opportunity for massive electoral fraud in favour of government given the proven unscrupulousness of some of the political actors in that axis and since the movement of the opposition members will be restricted and our civil society members can hardly be trusted.
If our so called civil society members are in any iota sincere they should by now have raised concern but their silence on so vital an issue that would determine the credibility and reliability of the elections’ results says it all. It must be pointed out that electoral malpractices do not commence on the day of voting but certainly start well ahead to be finally accomplished on the polling day. It is for this reason that those who are truly concern must be extremely vigilant so as to forestall any wrong doings.
We particularly want to implore the United Nations team here and the rest of the international community to be very much alert as far as this coming elections are concern. This has to be so because the United Nation and all our helpers in the intentional community have helped us so much to reach where we are today. We must not let these gains, made and sustained over the years be frittered or squandered away or made to elude us by the selfish actions of a few desperate politicians.

As the watchdog and mouthpiece of the silent majority, we are duty bound to raise this concern primarily because of what obtained in the election of the paramount chief in the Biriwa chiefdom.

It was shocking that the National Electoral Commission charged with the constitutional mandate for the conduct of all public elections was sidelined on the flimsy excuse that traditional paramount chief elections were conducted by the provincial secretary’s office which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
We must make clear here that the 1991 constitution vests the right to conduct public elections solely in the Electoral Commission and any arrangement that goes contrary is ultra virus the constitution.
The failure of the government to listen to the voice of these people of that chiefdom has reportedly culminated into a growing dangerous situation. The fact remains that in spite of all objections the government went ahead with the election. Today as reported, the disgruntled parties have allegedly elected their own regent chief. This is certainly unprecedented, dangerous and a recipe for chaos.
A thorough analysis of this situation is that this government by going ahead to conduct that election even when denounced by National Electoral Commission, shows blatant disregard of the commission and the chiefdom people.
What is however important and worthy of great commendation is the fact that the National Electoral Commission publicly demonstrated that they are aware of their responsibilities and cannot be manipulated by the powers that be. The National Electoral Commission deserves commendation and should be encouraged to continue resisting any pressure from whatever quarters.
Members of the National Electoral Commission need to prove to the world in spite of all odds, there are still decent Sierra Leoneans, those that cannot be bought over either by bogus political promises or be cowed by unremitting pressure.
For every reason, we ought to be mindful about the fact that this country is ours and that the conduct of this elections has a long way to go to determine the fate of this nation. Therefore we are expected to put national interest above every other thing else.
Since we cannot trust most of civil society groups to do any effective and efficient monitoring because they have already taken sides, we are pledging to stand solidly with the National Electoral Commission in the conduct of the 2007 elections.
We are therefore calling on all concerned to put the required and necessary mechanisms into place to thwart any diabolical scheme that might have the potential of plunging this nation into another chaos.We can achieve this if only we are determined and vigilant

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