By Amin Kef (Ranger)
In a joint statement dated, 13th June, 2023 issued by the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) and the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (Peace Commission) it was stated that the two institutions monitored the campaign activities of Political Parties contesting the 24th June 2023 elections for the past twenty days and observed the defilement of children, singing and dancing to profane and insulting songs, in front of His Excellency the President and the Hon. Vice President’s campaign postal, as Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates respectively of their Party.
They also observed that results are pronounced even before elections have been conducted.,
the persistent harassment and intimidation of Commissioners and personnel of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone and other Election Management Bodies, the intemperate and scathing comments against Political opponents, intermittent confrontation and disruption of the campaign activities of Political opponents in some parts of the Provinces, defiant flouting of security directives and guidance from the police, on routes to and from campaign designated locations, by Political Parties and their Candidates, leading to otherwise avoidable confrontations and the persistent calls for illegal protests by faceless persons and threats of unlawful disruption of the pending Polls.
According to the two institutions, those unfortunate happenings do not only have the proclivity of derailing the gains all have collectively made, but also have the following effects: Stoking conflict., Undermine democratic processes, Weaponise segments of the Public against State institutions and Officials, Compromise public safety and public morality and renege on the peace pledge recently signed by the leadership of the contesting Political Parties and their Presidential Candidates.
In order to respond to complaints received by the PPRC from the ECSL, APC and SLPP, bordering around the above, a dialogue meeting was convened on Friday 9th June 2023, with a view to addressing those complaints and discussing all of the aforementioned emerging issues.
Inexplicably, the APC Party did not attend the meeting and it is yet to proffer an explanation to the Commission for their absence.
They also jointly called on all Political Parties participating in the pending elections to: Roundly condemn all forms of threats to and intimidation of the ECSL and other Electoral management bodies, dissociate themselves from and denounce all calls for unlawful protests and disruption of the Polls and to be temperate in their utterances and tolerant in their campaigns, with messages of a national character.
The Peace Commission and PPRC finally called on Political Parties, their Leadership, Candidates and supporters to act in the spirit of the peace pledge they recently signed.
