Margai wants no violent Election in Sierra Leone

Charles F. Margai, the interim Leader of the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) party currently on tour of the United States, has pleaded to Sierra Leoneans to ensure a violent-free 2007 elections in the interest of sustainable stability and development of the country. According to him he is making this plea out of "great concern over the possible rigging of the upcoming 2007 Parliamentary and Presidential elections by the incumbent government," noting also that there is every possibility of the over-play of the power of incumbency by the SLPP which he said "may not augur well for the majority of Sierra Leoneans."

The PMDC Leader therefore called for an intra party dialogue which should involve party leaders and key officials as a way of putting modalities in place to "avert any unfortunate circumstances with the potential of provoking violence," noting that it is very difficult to remove an incumbent government even under a good democratic system because they have the advantage of state apparatus.

"Worst yet, Sierra Leone is not ruled by democracy-loving leaders; they are bent on winning the elections by any means possible, even in disregard of the voters’ desire," Mr. Margai told his host.

Mr. Margai therefore asserted, "We are not afraid that the SLPP will win through rigging. What we are apprehensive of is that such action would be against the will of the voters, in which case there would be further uprising that I myself would find very difficult to control. The Sierra Leonean has suffered immensely over the past decade that the only thing we can now count on to ensure that we avoid repeating our recent past is our votes, and if anyone, be Margai or any other person, tries to disenfranchise the people, such an action would bear a bitter fruit."