By Amin Kef (Ranger)
Leader of the Second largest opposition Party in Sierra Leone Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina has requested from members of the Joint ACP- EU Joint Parliamentary Committee on Political Affairs to call to order the EU Ambassador to Sierra Leone Manuel Muller for interfering in the politics of Sierra Leone.
Speaking during the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly Hon. Lamina stated that it is sad to note that some faction of the International Community who should support Sierra Leone’s democratic gains are rather undermining it through their actions.
The Honourable cited Amb. Muller, whom he said ,”has become the mouthpiece and an extension of the main Opposition Party – The APC”.
The C4C leader informed the ACP-EU Parliamentarians as he catalogued the actions of Ambassador Muller as firstly he has been on record of interfering in recent parliamentary bye-election in Constituency 056. He stated that though the Ambassador was not an accredited observer, “he was seen on a motor bike moving from one polling station to another polling station making unsavory statements about the President and his Government”
Furthermore, Hon Saa Emerson Lamina cited another means of interference of the EU Ambassador on the works of the Electoral Commission, an Independent body.
He alleges that Amb. Muller has on many occasions attempted to influence its Chairman and commissioners as the Ambassador has been on record saying : “ that in Makeni, the main opposition strong hold, I saw a huge crowd of people turning out to register; where as in Bo, the governing Party stronghold, people were few. How come now that more people registered in Bo than Makeni”.
Hon Lamina asserted that “this is an inciting comment that has the propensity of creating instability in our country”.
In a kind of response, the European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone stated in a Press Release, dated 2nd March, 2023 that it has taken note of the intervention of the Hon. Member of Parliament, Emerson Lamina, in the framework of a meeting of Parliamentarians of the EU-ACP group in Brussels on 1 March 2023.
The EU Delegation further stated that it was surprised about the content of the petition of Hon. Emerson Lamina, mainly focusing on allegations against the European Union which do not correspond with facts.
It continued how on the 13th February, H.E. President Bio visited Brussels and had fruitful meetings with the Commissioner for International Partnership, Jutta Urpilainen, the High Representative for Foreign and Security Affairs and Vice President of the EU Commission, Josep Borrell, as well as with the President of the Council of the European Union, H.E. Charles Michel who invited H.E. President Bio to a private dinner.
The EU Delegation continued that the tone and content of the statement of Hon. Emerson Lamina does not correspond with the strong partnership and good relations between Sierra Leone and the European Union as confirmed during the recent meetings that H. E. President Bio held in Brussels, which showed a clear alignment in principles, values and interests between the EU and Sierra Leone.
The European Union Delegation maintained that it considers the statement of Hon. Emerson Lamina an unfortunate and unnecessary incident which does not reflect the longstanding good relations between the European Union and Sierra Leone.
Based on the allegations of Hon. Emerson Lamina, the European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone said it wishes to issue the following clarifications:
That the European Union has participated in diplomatic watch exercises coordinated with other international partners in recent by-elections, including in Constituency 056 in Tonkolili district.
It also clarified that all staff of EU Delegation and other partners who participated in the electoral watch, including the EU Ambassador, were officially accredited at the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone as “International Observers” and followed the usual code of conduct for observers also disclosing how No statement was made in that context.
According to the delegation, the EU Ambassador and other watchers of the EU Delegation behaved with full respect towards all electoral stakeholders and citizens and discretion.
It said the presence of the international watchers was recognized and appreciated by stakeholders and citizens in the field maintaining that after the by- elections, the European Union Delegation and other international partners briefed the Chief Electoral Commissioner on their observations.
It was also stated that the quote that Hon. Emerson Lamina has attributed to the EU Ambassador with regard to voter registration does not correspond with facts.
The European Union, it was established, is a longstanding and strong partner of Sierra Leone in the area of electoral support in addition to the fact that the European Union Delegation has an excellent working relation with the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone including election observation and in the framework of projects the European Union is financing to support Electoral Management Bodies to conduct peaceful, inclusive, transparent and credible electoral processes, with integrity and effectiveness.
Also mentioned was that the European Union is also providing technical assistance to the Commission and has supported its communication and gender and inclusion strategies and within that framework, an amicable dialogue takes place regularly between the EU Delegation and the Electoral Commission. In that regard, the European Union Delegation said it commends the open door policy of the ECSL Chairperson.
The point was underscored that as a question of principle, the European Union Delegation has no position on the electoral system that the Sierra Leonean authorities have decided to use for the conduct of 2023 elections and the EU Ambassador has never made any statement on the electoral system.
Rather it was emphasized that the allegations made by Hon. Emerson Lamina concerning statements of the EU Ambassador on the 10 August events do not correspond with facts.
In general, the European Union Delegation said it wishes to underline that the European Union believes that a strong democracy, with free, transparent, peaceful, credible, multi-party and multi-candidate elections, which give a chance to all voters to express their will and to all candidates to contest without impediment, greatly contributes to long-term peace and stability.
The EU, made it clear that it does not favour specific political parties or candidates and that the EU worldwide supports processes which allow that at the end of the day, elections are free, transparent, credible and inclusive, so that the people’s will is fully taken into consideration.
It continued how the EU, since 1996 ,has been supporting Sierra Leone Electoral Management Bodies’ work for peaceful, inclusive, transparent, multi-party and multi-candidate elections disclosing that the EU Electoral Observation Missions were deployed in Sierra Leone in the last 3 general elections, in 2007, 2012 and 2018.
Highlighted was that the EU and its Member States have committed over 7 million Euro to support transparent, inclusive, credible and peaceful elections in Sierra Leone in 2023.
It was disclosed that Team Europe supports the project “Fostering Peaceful, Credible and Inclusive Elections in Sierra Leone 2022-2023” implemented by UNDP (contributions from Ireland and from the EU) and the ECOWAS Regional Programme “Peace and Security Architecture and Operations” (contributions from Germany and from the EU).
EU’s electoral support, it was maintained, is strictly non-partisan and aimed at building the institutional capacity of electoral management bodies and civil society organizations for effective, inclusive and peaceful electoral operations.
Further disclosed was that the Electoral Commission (ECSL), Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC), Police and the Judiciary are amongst the beneficiaries of EU funded technical assistance implemented by ECOWAS, UNDP, International IDEA and DAI.
The EU concluded by stating how it supports Civil Society Organisations as good governance and development actors, and therefore promotes domestic observation and citizens’ engagement in support to the inclusion of youth, women and people living with disability in electoral processes, as well as community-based conflict prevention and mediation.
