S Leone: 'No to poll results'
2007-09-17 10:59
Freetown - With three quarters of preliminary results from Sierra Leone's presidential run-off in, the ruling party is seeking to bar the election body from publishing further results, say court officials and the opposition.
A high court official said: "An injunction has been filed by the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) to refrain the National Electoral Commission (NEC) from announcing further progress reports from the run-off elections."
Sulaiman Tejamsie, an SLPP lawyer, confirmed filing an injunction, but refused to disclose details.
He said: "I filed a document on Saturday to the High Court asking for an interim injunction against (NEC chief) Christiana Thorpe and NEC not to perform certain functions, which I cannot disclose now until the order is granted."
The SLPP, whose candidate in the run-off, Vice-President Solomon Berewa, with 40% of ballots, was trailing behind the opposition's Ernest Koroma, and was also reluctant to give details.
Free, fair elections
But the opposition All People's Congress (APC) spokesperson Alpha Kanu, whose leader Ernest Koroma was leading with 60% of ballots cast, said the SLPP wanted to block Koroma's likely victory.
Kanu said: "We understand that the SLPP has filed a motion to stop Dr Christiana Thorpe from declaring, releasing and announcing further progress report of the run-off election."
He said the attempt was without merit and "a clear bid to undermine the principles and practice of conducting free and fair elections".
He said: "It is evident that this is a desperate attempt to halt the probable election of Ernest Koroma to the presidency." The case was due for hearing at the High Court on Monday.
NEC had been progressively releasing results until Thursday. The next batch of results was due on Monday after investigations into alleged irregularities, including ballot-box stuffing.
The September 08 run-off aimed at turning the page on years of civil conflict and decades of corruption that had ruined the diamond-rich, but impoverished nation.
The election was the first since some 17 500 United Nations peacekeepers pulled out in 2005 after overseeing a peace process after a war regarded as the most barbaric in recent history.
Outgoing President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who led the country during and after the civil war, and who was credited with negotiating an end to the conflict, was stepping down after having achieved the maximum two-term limit.