SIERRA LEONE: President Koroma casts his vote in enthusiastic election turnout with no violence so far
Record ID:
861173
SIERRA LEONE: President Koroma casts his vote in enthusiastic election turnout with no violence so far
- Title: SIERRA LEONE: President Koroma casts his vote in enthusiastic election turnout with no violence so far
- Date: 17th November 2012
- Summary: FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (NOVEMBER 17, 2012) (REUTERS) SIERRA LEONE PRESIDENT ERNEST BAI KOROMA CASTING VOTE CAMERAMEN FILMING VARIOUS OF KOROMA REGISTERING JOURNALISTS FILMING KOROMA WALKING TO POLLING BOOTH POLICEMAN AND POLLING AGENT OUTSIDE POLLING BUREAU PEOPLE SHOUTING AND WAVING AS KOROMA COMES OUT OF POLLING STATION KOROMA WAVING TO CROWD CROWD WAVING AND CHEERING MORE OF KOROMA WALKING SOLDIERS GUIDING KOROMA'S CAR AS IT LEAVES COMPOUND/PEOPLE WAVING KOROMA IN CAR WAVING AT PEOPLE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING OUTSIDE POLLING STATION BALLOT BOX MAN CASTING VOTE
- Embargoed: 2nd December 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Sierra Leone
- City:
- Country: Sierra Leone
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA6BI496R4TXRRAN7D8WS46BX4O
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Supporters of Sierra Leone's president Ernest Bai Koroma gathered outside the polling station as he cast his vote on Saturday (November 17) in an election many hope can rebrand their poor, war-scarred West African state as an emerging democracy with the potential for fast growth from mining and oil.
Koroma, wearing a white robe, voted in a west Freetown polling station set up in an unfinished building. Walking out after he cast his ballot, Koroma was greeted by supporters chanting "world best, world best!".
Election observers reported an enthusiastic turnout from the moment polls opened, with large, eager crowds of voters jostling outside balloting points in schools and other public venues in the steamy seaside capital Freetown and across the nation.
The presidential and parliamentary polls, the third held since the end of the 1991-2002 conflict, pit Koroma and his ruling All People's Congress (APC) against challenger Julius Maada Bio, a former junta leader who represents the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).
The elections are being held amid rising expectations that foreign-run iron ore mining and oil developments can start lifting Sierra Leone's 5.5 million people out of poverty and help the country shed its past image as a "blood diamonds" battleground for rebels and child soldiers.
The vote is expected to be close. Former insurance executive Koroma, 59, who wrested the presidency from the SLPP in a hotly disputed 2007 vote, is considered the narrow favourite above Bio, a 48-year-old retired army brigadier who was involved in two military takeovers in the turbulent 1990s.
Koroma's rival Bio, also wearing white, cast his ballot outside a west Freetown school, in a makeshift polling station made from blue plastic sheeting and poles, with simple cardboard voting booths.
To win outright, a candidate must gain 55 percent of the vote and the race may well go to a second round. With rivalry between the APC and the SLPP running high, there are concerns a close result could ignite violence.
The elections in the former British colony will be one of the most closely observed in Africa this year by monitors from the European Union, the Commonwealth and the African Union. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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