Opposition MPs in Sierra Leone have rejected their parliamentary swearing-in ceremony, in protest against the last month’s elections.
Recall that the All People’s Congress, APC, had won 54 out of 149 seats, according to the results broadcast by the electoral commission. The opposition has since disputed this, demanding for the resignation of the election commission chief and for a rerun to be held within six months.
Meanwhile the US ambassador to Sierra Leone, David Reimer, had cautioned against the boycott, stating that a vibrant democracy required a strong opposition.
Samura Kamara, the APC leader had ignored Reimer’s appeal, stating via a tweet that in normal circumstances, each day forward had meant progress, but considering how the elections had played out in the country, a new day now meant going backwards.
It is interesting to note how the Sierra Leoneans are not backing down from the perceived electoral rigging that took place in the country.
A very stark contrast to the way Nigerian opposition parties have handled the very similar event of election rigging and malpractice.
The two prominent Nigerian opposition parties the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, have been in court disputing the results of the February 25 presidential elections. Granted that a different scenario could have taken place in the country, were it not for the intervention of Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate, who had urged his supporters to desist from taking the law into their hands, in the aftermath of the elections, and to let the law court decide on the matter.
