PRESIDENT JULIUS MAADA BIO and the Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) Government are facing tremendous diplomatic heat from the major stakeholders in the international community in a concerted move to ensure free and fair credible elections in 2023.
In the face of blames by the opposition media, especially COCORIOKO, that the international community had been adopting an apparent hands-off behavior on political events and allowing President Bio to get away with everything in Sierra Leone, it looks like the international stakeholders have now smelt the rat and are now busy exerting diplomatic pressure on the SLPP Government to make sure that the forthcoming elections are credible and that Sierra Leone remains stable and peaceful.
Leading the diplomatic offensive against not only the SLPP Government but the opposition are the United States and European Union ambassadors and the British High Commissioner in Sierra Leone.
Last month , they held constructive discussions with the opposition All People’s Congress ( APC ) and former President Ernest Bai Koroma, who , contrary to the wishes of President Bio, the SLPP and supporters, is increasingly considered by the international community as one of the major stakeholders in the country.
Last Tuesday , heads of the diplomatic community again met with former President, H.E. Dr Ernest Bai Koroma at his Goderich residence in Freetown. According to the former president’s office, These visits were a follow-up to previous discussions and consultations relating to the country’s social and political state of affairs ahead of the 2023 general elections. Among the visiting diplomats are the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney, the head of the European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone, Manuel Muller and the United States’ Ambassador in Sierra Leone, David Reimer.
Yesterday, the U.S. Ambassador , H.E. David Reimer, released a tweet, stating that he had also met with the leadership of the ruling SLPP. He disclosed that they had a great discussion , “And I emphasized –as I do to all parties–the need to make sure that everyone can vote, the votes are counted accurately and the winner takes power peacefully . ” According to reports received by COCORIOKO, the ambassador was accompanied by the British High Commissioner and the EU Ambassador.
These diplomatic engagements are a clear indication that the international community will not accept rigged elections in Sierra Leone in 2023.
