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afrol News, 14 May - Today, the Sierra Leonean people finally was enabled to choose its leaders in free and fair elections. Voters in Sierra Leone have turned out in huge numbers throughout the country to cast ballots in today's presidential and parliamentary elections. Incumbent President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is the clear favourite. The poll is hoped to be the final stage of the complicated peace process after a 10-year conflict has devastated the country. Both the Freetown government and the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) - who had been terrorising civilians for ten years - are participating. A total of 9 presidential candidates have presented themselves. According to the UN mission in the country (UNAMSIL), the polling has been taking place in a "festive and peaceful" atmosphere, with UN peacekeepers present in all voting locations. Voters had begun queuing up as early as 1:30 a.m. to await the opening of polling stations at 7 a.m. All voters that were in line by the 5 p.m. - official closing time - were however allowed to vote. As the poll stations closed, no serious incidents had been reported. Among the nine candidates fro presidency is President Kabbah, in power since 1996. The RUF - which has been disarmed and transformed into a political party, the RUFP - are presenting Pallo Bangura as their candidate. RUF leader Foday Sankoh, who is facing a murder trial, has not been allowed to contest. Only one woman, civil rights activist Zainab Bangura, runs for presidency. President Kabbah is sky-high favourite in the poll, given his democratic and civilian image. Sankoh's government had secured help from West African states, the UN and the former British colonial power to stand off the destructive rebel attacks. The RUF - commonly called "terrorists" before the peace - have a long history of abducting, mutilating, enslaving and raping civilians. Kabbah, on the other hand, has initiated the signature of three peace treaties with the rebels to bring calm to the country. He will surely be rewarded for this at the poll stations. While Freetown residents seemed quite unison in their support to Kabbah, the election system still may necessitate a second poll round. A candidate must obtain at least 55 percent of the votes to win outright.
These presidential and parliamentary elections had originally been set for February and March 2001. The government however postponed them, pointing to the continued violence and RUF still controlling parts of the country. With the UN disarmament of RUF rebels completed by January this year, the government and the UN were ready to organise the elections. President Kabbah in February 1996 had won the first multiparty elections in Sierra Leone since 1967. He signed a peace deal with the RUF the same year but was however deposed in a military coup supported by RUF in May 1997. With the help of West African invading troops, Kabbah however returns to power in Freetown one year after. He has been in power since, from November 1999 with the backing of UN peacekeepers. The UN peacekeepers also play a key role in organising these elections. The UN Security Council in January gave UNAMSIL wide-ranging security tasks for the elections, stressing that holding them "freely, fairly and transparently" was "vital to long-term stability" in the country. A spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, yesterday in a statement called on all eligible Sierra Leoneans to exercise their right to vote in the spirit of "peace and tolerance," and wished them every success in rebuilding their country. After the elections, the final stage of the UN-brokered Sierra Leonean peace process will be to set up a special War Crimes Court together with the UN to go through the large number of atrocities during the civil war. Imprisoned RUF leader Sankoh, several RUF leaders and other leaders of military groups of both sides will have to face serious charges at this court.
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