By: Mohamed Dauda Kamara
In a press briefing held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Justice and a member of the Tripartite Committee, Esq Alpha Sesay has clarified that there will be no “re-run” of the 2023-June elections — despite there have several speculations by members of the main opposition, All People Congress on a potential re-run of the elections.
Recent weeks, there have been growing tensions among members of the APC, with many hoping for a re-run of the flawed June-2023 elections.
But Esq Sesay has described the speculations as “fake news.”
However, Esq Sesay has also said that the Tripartite Committee does not have the constitutional power to overturn an election result nor does it have the legal right to call for a re-run of an election.
According to him, the Tripartite Committee was established by President Julius Maada Bio to examine and review electoral structures, thereby making recommendations to minimize future election-related complaints.
“The only way an election result can be revised is when it’s taken to the Supreme Court. And it’s the Supreme Court that has the constitutional power to cancel an election and call for a re-run,” he revealed.
He reiterated that such decisions have a time frame for the aggrieved party to tender their complaints before the Supreme Court, despite saying that the country has already exceeded that time frame.
In his statement, it appeared quite clearly that there’s no hope for the APC, even though the Co-Chair of the Tripartite Committee, representing APC, Dr. Kelfala Marah had emphatically asserted that there will be a re-run of the June-2023 elections if the recommendations of the committee require it.
This conflicting statements between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party and the APC have abetted the spread of fake news among their supporters, heightening the already declining political tensions in the country.
But as things continue to unfold, it’s no doubt that the ruling SLPP and the main opposition are still stuck in disagreements, with both parties revealing contradictory statements to their grassroots supporters.
