PMDC CANDIDATE MARGAI BRIEFS AMBASSADOR ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 FREETOWN 000501 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA (BGRAVES) E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SL SUBJECT: PMDC CANDIDATE MARGAI BRIEFS AMBASSADOR ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RUNOFF REF: FREETOWN 493 Classified By: Ambassador Thomas Hull for reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (C) During an August 23 meeting with the Ambassador, People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) presidential candidate Charles Margai appealed to the international community to implement additional mechanisms to ensure that the anticipated presidential runoff election scheduled for September 8 is fair and free. Margai, who requested the meeting with the Ambassador, said the next four weeks will be crucial and that he, in an attempt to overcome long-standing ethnic and geographical divisions between North and South, has decided to throw his support to All People's Congress (APC) presidential candidate Ernest Koroma for the runoff, which is all but assured with 98.7 percent of the vote recorded. Margai said he and the other four presidential candidates who lost in the first round will ally themselves with the APC and embark on a national tour following the announcement of the official first round results on August ¶25. ¶2. (C) Margai voiced concern about the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party's (SLPP) tone of desperation. The APC and SLPP are locked in a tight presidential election race with the APC slightly ahead by 110,000 votes. Margai agreed with the Ambassador that the final outcome in the second round likely will hinge on whether PMDC supporters in the East and South decide to vote for the APC or return to their roots and vote for the SLPP. ¶3. (C) Margai said Koroma has created a new APC, comparing it to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party. He added Koroma has a golden opportunity to make a mark in Sierra Leone's history and be a national leader for all. He described Koroma as a good listener, but said Koroma needs to become more decisive, a criticism that also has plagued current President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. ¶4. (C) Echoing Koroma's concerns expressed to the Ambassador during an August 17 meeting (reftel),Margai said the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Commissioner for the Eastern Region, Edward Nyaley, must be removed before the runoff due to his membership in the ruling SLPP and close ties to Minister of Finance John Benjamin. According to Margai, Nyaley is Benjamin's cousin, worked for him, and until recently shared the same house. Margai said he had raised his concerns about Nyaley with the NEC and other foreign missions prior to the election, but received no response. He claimed that first-round results from the Kono District in the East confirmed his suspicions about SLPP manipulation of the vote because they favored the SLPP despite APC vice presidential candidate Sam Sam-Sumana hailing from Kono. ¶5. (C) Calling it a do or die situation, Margai said it is imperative to put additional checks and balances in place to ensure that the second round is conducted fairly. He appealed for the international community to provide enough election observers to monitor each of the 6,171 polling stations. (COMMENT: In the first round, there were about 350 international observers. The British Department for International Development (DFID) has agreed to fund some National Democratic Institute election observers for the second round, but with the stakes much higher, it will be imperative that more international observers are on hand to monitor polling centers country-wide. END COMMENT) The Ambassador said that sufficient international observers to cover all polling stations is unrealistic, and suggested that the indigenous National Election Watch observers funded by USAID might be increased, a point with which Margai agreed. Margai also advised that the ballots for the runoff should be revised to discourage election fraud. The Ambassador informed Margai that the UN has added new anti-tampering security features to the ballots. ¶6. (C) Referring to former National Provisional Revolutionary Coalition (NPRC) members Julius Maada Bio and Tom Nyuma, Margai said the SLPP had armed individuals prior to the elections who had no business receiving weapons and should be disarmed. Bio and Nyuma were members of the military junta that staged the NPRC coup in 1992 to overthrow the APC. Margai called for the international community to meet with President Kabbah and Vice President Berewa to urge them to recall these weapons. As anecdotal evidence of SLPP meddling, Margai alleged said that his recently suspended financial secretary Sidikie Janneh had taken a substantial bribe from SIPDIS the SLPP and was given a revolver which he had taken to a PMDC party meeting. The revolver was discovered too late to have him arrested, Margai said. (Note: In a press statement, FREETOWN 00000501 002 OF 002 Janneh has denied the charge, saying that he joined the SLPP because Margai endorsed the APC without consulting him.) ¶7. (C) Margai fears that any interference by the SLPP and its supporters to disrupt Koroma's and his national tour will be a recipe for disaster, adding, "We have the capacity to protect ourselves." Margai requested that the international community consider providing security to thwart any attack. Margai concluded his visit by thanking the Ambassador for his service in Sierra Leone and wishing him a safe return to the U.S. for retirement. ¶8. (C) COMMENT: Charles Margai, who reportedly will receive five ministerial portfolios for the PMDC for his support of the APC, was surprisingly reserved and dispassionate in the meeting compared with his fiery reputation. He was confident of an APC/PMDC victory in the runoff, which may have accounted for his being less aggressive than in meetings with other foreign diplomats. He even appeared relieved that he had not won the presidency in view of the unrealistically high public expectations that the next president will face. ¶9. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: With the results almost complete, a runoff is inevitable. There are a number of factors that will come into play in the second round, the greatest being how Southerners who voted for the PMDC in the first round will vote in the second go around. Margai seems convinced that his and Koroma's national tour will be decisive for an APC victory, but is wary of the SLPP playing the ethnic and geographic North South card. One point is clear: there will a need for more international observers for the second round to counter electoral fraud. The Ambassador continues to receive extensive coverage in the news media with his remarks calling for political parties to exercise restraint and lower the level of inflammatory rhetoric that can lead to violence. END COMMENT. HULL