Sierra Leone Election Praised by International Observers
By Daniel Hollingsworth
August 15, 2007 | Printer Friendly

International observers monitoring the August 11 national election in Sierra Leone have widely praised the administration of the electoral process, the first such vote held under the full sovereign control of the Sierra Leone government.  Seven presidential candidates are running to replace Ahmad Tejan Kabbah after his maximum two terms as president, while over 500 candidates are running for just over 100 seats in Sierra Leone’s parliament.

In a preliminary statement released August 13, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) says that “turnout was very high and voting across the country on election day was orderly, peaceful and well-administered in the overwhelming majority of the areas this delegation observed,” and it generally assesses both the period leading up to the election and the conduct of the election itself to be “transparent, credible and largely peaceful.”  The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Sierra Leone has also called the election “generally well administered, peaceful and competitive,” and “if this continues it will mark a significant and positive development in Sierra Leone’s progress toward the consolidation of democracy and peace.”

The BBC reports that despite tensions leading up to the election and fears of widespread violence, no major incidents were reported.  The EU EOM notes that some minor issues did develop: key areas of programming by the state owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services were heavily skewed towards the incumbent Sierra Leonean People’s Party (SLPP); some polling stations did not open on time due to the heavy turnout, poor weather, and inadequate infrastructure; and there were some isolated incidents of election-related violence during and after the vote.  However, these issues were overshadowed by the successes of the process, which included the effective mediation and reconciliation of conflicting parties, effective supervision of polling procedures by national observers and party representatives, and the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of campaign rallies leading up to the election.

Voice of America reports that early results demonstrate a strong showing by Ernest Koroma of the opposition All Peoples’ Congress (APC) party in the race for president, calling the early results a sign that the incumbent vice president Solomon Berewa of SLPP could be in trouble.  Final results are expected to be announced within two weeks of the election, by August 25.

References:

Preliminary Statement of the NDI International Observer Delegation to Sierra Leone’s 2007 Elections (pdf)

European Union Election Observation Mission for the Republic of Sierra Leone: Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions (pdf)

BBC News: Sierra Leone elections ‘free and fair’

Voice of America: Opposition Candidate Maintains Lead in Early Sierra Leone Results