BY THE POLITICAL PARTIES REGISTRATION COMMISSION
Recourse to violence has always showed itself especially during elections in at least most of the elections held in the recent past in this country if not all. The transfer of power from the Sierra Leone Peoples Party to the now ruling All Peoples Congress although by every standards was peaceful, subsequent events have further points to the unhealthy relations Bintumani Conferencethat obtain between the ruling party and the opposition. The events leading to the signing of the Communiqué on 2nd April 2009;the incidents in Tongo; the September 9 , 2010 saga leading to the stoning of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party flag bearer while on a thank you tour in Bo; the local council by- elections at Fourah in Freetown and recently the Biometric Voter Registration period .
The BVR period, as new as it was in the electoral dynamics of the country, generated high suspicions between political parties resulting to parallel registration which provoked a stern warning from the National Electoral Commission .
With the stakes having become so high that political differences turn into highly volatile group clashes and conflicts, a year of multi tier elections now on hand, the prospects for a very peaceful election will seem sinister in any case.
The Political Parties Registration Commission in its drive to keep the Code of Conduct for Political Parties sacrosanct, she quickly desired on bringing together all certified political parties as well as other major stakeholders for a dialogue.
The two day Bintumani Conference brought all registered Political Parties, security sector institutions, the media, the National Electoral Commission as well as other major stakeholders to fully deliberate on those prospects which might want to hinder the progress for a smooth election. It was perhaps a moment for institutional reflections on how very peaceful elections can be conducted. The outcome of the conference produced a declaration which was signed by all political parties and other stakeholder institutions.
The Political Parties Registration Commission as part of the follow up mechanisms to the Conference will immediately convene a meeting of all signatories as a monitoring mechanism to the declaration.