…APC is getting ready to pull out of the elections
The signs are now very clear that the APC is getting ready to quit the 2023 elections. The APC has been laying the preparatory grounds to tell Sierra Leoneans and the international community that they are not going to take part in the 24 June 2023 general elections.
The announcement of an ultimatum on Tuesday 14 June by the flagbearer of the APC, calling on the leadership of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) to resign in 72 hours, was all part of a well-laid out plan. The head of the ECSL, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, has responded directly to the ultimatum with a confirmation that he and the leadership of the Commission have no plan and desire to resign. He also reiterated that the elections would go on as scheduled. The response by the ECSL would come as no surprise to Samura Kamara, because it serves the APC’s game-plan.
Equally, an announcement by Samura Kamara early next week that he is going to pull out of the race will not come as a surprise. His presser was just a precursor. Already, low-level officials of the Party and unofficial but influential mouthpieces of the APC have made it known that it is in the interest of the APC not to take part in the 2023 elections in June.
The real reasons behind expected APC’s decision to pull out of the elections
The ultimatum around the elections register biodata is simply part of many stunts that the Party has deployed since they were voted out of office. The APC had played along with the electoral process, hoping that at some point a falter by the SLPP would provide them an opportunity to win some political momentum.
Unfortunately, for the APC, there has been no such falter by the SLPP to swing any decent momentum in the opposition’s favour. On the contrary, momentum for the SLPP is swelling by the hour, pushed by efforts at many fronts. These fronts include the energy invested by President Bio and his wife Fatima Maada Bio, in the campaign, the energy and charisma of the President’s running-mate Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, the charisma and popularity of the SLPP’s Freetown mayoral candidate, Gento Kamara, and the defections of senior political heavyweights from the APC to the SLPP.
Understanding the APC’s deceptions and stunts
Earlier last week, a senior member of the APC, in the person of Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, raised the attention of the nation to the APC’s deception skills. She said that the APC was very good at presenting stunts as reality, to deceive the populace and the international community regarding their real objectives and goals. A major element in the APC’s stunts is to make zero-sum demands: they either have it or they have it.
The APC never makes any effort to pursue a middle ground on any grievance that promotes good governance or good politics. The APC always simply asks that things be done their own way. APC said there should be no accountability for their deeds in office between 2007 and 2018. APC said there should be no mid-term census. APC said there should be no Proportional Representation electoral system for the 2023 elections. The latest zero-sum demand now is that the APC is asking for the leadership of the ECSL to resign.
Responding to the expected withdrawal of the APC from the elections process
The expected withdrawal of the APC from the June 2023 elections is going to taint the image of Sierra Leone’s democracy. The good image of the country’s democracy matters to the development of Sierra Leone because it is the primary point of reference for foreign direct investment flows and donor confidence.
The APC knows that their withdrawal from the June 2023 elections is going to taint the image of Sierra Leone’s democracy. The APC equally understands the development and economic ramifications of a tainted democracy image. It is precisely because they know these that the APC is using withdrawal from the June 2023 elections to blackmail the country and the international community.
The first way to thwart the APC’s blackmail is to affirm that nothing in this world will stop the 24 June elections from going ahead. Samura Kamara and his running-mate can withdraw but the elections will return APC Members of Parliament, Councilors, District Council Chairmen, and Mayors. If those APC elected officials refuse to take their posts, the government should resolve now that there will never be any negotiation of anything pertaining to the APC’s refusal to take part in the elections.
The international community should be told this stance, now, and it should be on record. Civil Society and international community should also begin to send alarm bells to the APC that their Party will be held responsible for any withdrawal from the June 2023 elections that negatively impact the country’s democratic image.
Remember, however, the words of Sylvia Olayinka Blyden that the APC is very good at presenting stunts as reality to deceive the populace and the international community regarding their real objectives and goals. The real objective of the APC is to cancel and or delay the elections. The APC is not only going to announce a withdrawal from the elections, but will also try to disrupt it on 24 June with violence, organised by their members and proxies. This is what the State and the international community should be prepared for.
