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Sierra Leone's Koroma Re-Elected in Outright Poll Victory
[An Nahar] Sierra Leone's President Ernest Koroma swept to a second term Friday, winning 58 percent of votes in a poll that observers praised for its peacefulness and which focused on the nation's post-war recovery.The 59-year-old incumbent triumphed over his main rival Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) who trailed with 37.4 percent of votes. And since he won more than 55 percent of the vote in the first round, the contest does not have to go to a second round. The crucial test for the west African nation will be whether ex-military leader Bio accepts the outcome. During the vote, he alleged fraud and vowed that he would not let his supporters be cheated. The country still bears the scars of a brutal 11-year civil conflict during which rebels chopped off the limbs of civilians during a campaign of terror. They bankrolled their army with the sale of so-called "blood diamonds". National Elections Commission chief Christiana Thorpe said Koroma had won 1,314,881 votes to Bio's 837,517 in an election which had a massive 87.3 percent voter turnout. The third runner-up was Charles Margai of the People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) who won 1.3 percent of the vote. Posted by: Fred 2012-11-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=356719 |