Based on the advice of the Chairman and Chief Electoral Commissi oner of the National Electoral Commission, the President is expected to announce the exact date for the conduct of Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council elections next year.
Reliable sources have hinted that all the elections will be held on a date between April and July 2023.
Meanwhile, a coalition of opposition political parties including the main opposition APC and NGC is working on plans to put up a single Presidential candidate to challenge the incumbent President, Dr Julius Maada Bio in 2023.
It is highly likely that the coalition will put up the defeated NGC Presidential candidate in 2018, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella as their sole Presidential candidate.
Supporters of Dr Samura Kamara are worried that this arrangement might not favor their man.
Political observers are of the view that it will be difficult for the coalition to agree on a sole Presidential candidate.
Last week, some senior members of the coalition met with former President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma in Makeni to brief him about details of the decision agreed by the coalition to put up a single Presidential candidate to challenge the governing party candidate, Dr Julius Maada Bio.
So far, President Dr Julius Maada Bio has received his party’s endorsement to run for re-election in 2023.
The onus is now on President Bio to appoint his running mate in consultation with the party.
However, some senior party officials have openly called on President Bio to appoint his current Vice President to run with him in 2023. Many of them see Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh as the best running mate because of his conduct in office as Vice President. “We can’t afford to change a winning horse”, one of the major stakeholders in the SLPP said last night.
