The jig is up! According to ranking members and supporters of the ruling party, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) led government will win the coming 2028 presidential and other elections. If the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) were thinking that they are assured of an easy 2028 victory, even expecting that with all that has happened since 2018 some sort of regime change should be in the offing then they have to start strategizing to counter any expected move by the ruling party and incumbent president to extend their tenure beyond 2028.
Based on the present situation across the country, our sources in the ruling party strategy team anyone should be able to guess that neither the SLPP nor the incumbent president Julius Maaada Bio plans on or preparing to be in active opposition after the much expected 2028 elections.
The ranking party stalwarts informed this medium that members of the party know how they have ruled the country since 2018 and are fearful that a new government of Sierra Leone, especially one headed by the APC would be a government of revenge.
“The fear is that the APC will be coming back to power to revenge. There is too much to mention but being an opposition regime in Sierra Leone politics means that you have to sacrifice a lot if you want to call here or make a home here in the country. The biggest reason why we cannot afford to hand power back to the APC is that we don’t trust that all will be well. Apart from the APC we also have to worry about how the people see us these past years, have to worry about members of our party losing confidence in our ability to make a difference in theirs and the life of the economy,” the SLPP stalwart told this medium.
Also commenting a member of the SLPP grassroots informed that the outcome of the 2023 presidential election informed them that they are indeed not liked in their traditional strongholds in the provinces, evident by the fact that the APC made serious inroads or gains in SLPP territory in 2023.
Making light of the discussion and present political and economic situation across the country, a female member of the SLPP grassroots said, “If we are accused of stealing the 2023 presidential election, and a thief being a thief and all, shouldn’t the opposition be preparing for the ruling party stealing the 2028 elections also? This should not be even up for debate as there is no credible incumbent party and leader that will enter an election race with the expressed purpose of losing to the opposition. Power is sweet and no one, not the SLPP or others will willingly hand power over. We have won twice already and we are hopeful for a third presidential victory in 2028.
The SLPP supporters posited that if there was a demand for early elections and those elections were held today, “We will win 2028,” she continued, adding that they will win because the SLPP is and has been prepared for 2028, something she couldn’t say for her party, the APC.
Meanwhile, a seasoned government of Sierra Leone veteran belonging to and working for the ruling party government not only subscribed to the hope of the female grassroots members that the SLPP will win in 2028, he went as far as saying that the ruling party is very much aware of the hopes and aspirations of opposition party stalwarts and other partisans to reclaim power in 2028, which they hope to lay to rest by repeating the magic of president Bio’s miraculous 2023 presidential victory.
“Sadly that is not going to happen. We will not lose the next presidential elections as all we have been building for and looking forward to us to continue as the government and head of state for a third term. If the people in the APC think that we don’t know that they are waiting on the other side to wrestle power back from our hands then they are naïve. We know that you are waiting and have been waiting since 2018 but if you people think that we will sit aside and allow APC to take over then you are lying to yourselves. We will spend our last resources to maintain our hold on power to come back to State House in 2028. The SLPP is desperate enough to do anything to stay in power,” the SLPP strongman informed journalists.
Meanwhile, the SLPP members and supporters say they are confident of continuing their dominance of and hegemony over state power because they do not see the APC as a credible opposition. Since 2018 the SLPP stalwarts said leading members of the APC have quietly sat aside while the SLPP has had a field day doing as they please.
“There cannot be a credible opposition if we don’t know what they think about government’s lapses. There isn’t anyone in the APC that has risked it all by articulating the excesses of the Maada Bio led regime so the people will really know how they are being led. A quiet and disengaged opposition will always be the reason for an emboldened incumbency, even if they have to manipulate the voting process,” hinted the hopeful SLPP executive who is confident that president Bio and the SLPP will pull off another impossible presidential victory.
It must be recalled that no ruling party government or incumbent president has won a third straight term as government and head of government respectively. While EBK had the most potential to sue for a third term, he was content with all he had done as president and wanted a fresh face at State House. Meanwhile, the people are waiting with baited breath to see if Maada Bio and SLPP would pull it off and get away with it as they have done all else, and what the APC would do then. Only time would tell! Lonta!