Sierra Leone
Incumbent set for victory in Sierra Leone

afrol News, 16 May - Incumbent Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is heading for victory in Tuesday's presidential elections. As an estimated 10 percent of the ballots are counted, he has received 65.39 percent of the votes. The former rebels' candidate is only number four. 

As a total of 287,793 votes have been counted and unofficially published by the Independent Radio Network, President Kabbah seems to be heading for his second term. Figures last night however showed he had received around 68 percent of the votes, so his trend is downwards. Kabbah will have to reach the 55 percent limit to win this first round outright. The government party (Sierra Leone People's Party, SLPP) seems to be making a landslide victory in Freetown and southern and eastern Sierra Leone. 

Second in the poll is Ernest Bai Koroma - the candidate of All People's Congress (APC) - so far with 24.91 percent of the votes. The APC and Koroma is the earlier government party from the time of one-party-rule (1978-91). Its stronghold is around Makeni in central Sierra Leone, where the party seems to be winning a majority of the votes. (Parliamentary elections were held at the same time). Koroma yesterday Wednesday he was "reasonably happy" with the election results so far.

Far behind the two leading candidates is Johnny Paul Koroma, with 4.25 percent of the ballots counted so far. Major-General Paul Koroma, leader of the Peace and Liberation Party (PLP), is best known for the military coup he staged against President Kabbah in 1997; an important factor in the prolonging of the country's brutal civil war. Paul Koroma was ousted from his short-lived Freetown presidency by international troops in February 1998.

The surprise in the preliminary poll results is the extremely low support for the ex-rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Candidate Alimamy Pallo Bangura for RUF's party RUFP only has received 2.43 percent of the votes counted. This can be explained by the brutal heritage left by RUF, systematically terrorising the civilian population during the civil war and by the fact that their leader, Foday Sankoh was barred from running as he faces murder charges. 

Of the total of nine candidates, only four have received over one percent. Zainab Hawa Bangura, the only female candidate to the presidency, so far only has received 1,965 votes, or 0.68 percent. Turnout has been very high and voters were reported to be "enthusiastic".

While it seems sure that Kabbah will be re-elected - probably even in the first round - it remains unsure how low the results for RUFP will be. There is concern that RUFP cannot accept a result that would deny the former rebels any participation in the running of the country. In the legislative election, parties must receive at least 12.5 percent of the vote to be represented in parliament. RUFP is far below this limit according to the preliminary results. The next step in the peace process - the establishment of a UN war crimes court for Sierra Leone - will also be a painful process for the ex-rebels.

The head of the UN mission in Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, said in a press conference on Tuesday that the 17,500 men strong UN peacekeeping forces would stay in Sierra Leone for some time after the elections. The elections would "not be the exit point," Adeniji said. "The UN has lessons from past operations. Elections themselves do not mean the end or consolidation of peace, it may well be the beginning for the consolidation of peace," he added.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday congratulated Sierra Leoneans for their "peaceful and enthusiastic participation in the elections," which was "an eloquent testimony to Sierra Leoneans' determination to turn a page on their tragic past." Sierra Leoneans had been voting "in their numbers and in a sprit of mutual respect and reconciliation" in what was also to be "a major step on the road to lasting, sustainable peace," Annan said.

Also the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw - the ex-colonial power has troops in Sierra Leone - yesterday hailed the peaceful elections. "These elections mark a new chapter of politics and peace in Sierra Leone's history. This is a remarkable achievement and clearly illustrates the real progress Sierra Leone is making towards lasting peace," Straw said in a statement. 

Sources: Based on UN sources, UK govt., press reports and afrol archives

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