Dressed in a white flowing gown with white caftan slippers to match, Brigadier (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio seemingly in a cheerful mood scrambled down the dirt road at Fudia Terrace to cast his ballot at 10am Saturday.
Speaking to journalists Bio said his message to election officials was “give us a clean election Madam Thorpe.”
After apparently voting for himself and other party members, Bio said “I feel very happy, elated that I’ve been able to vote. Its been a very long and difficult journey to this point, everybody has been busy, there has been so much tension; but I think and I hope and pray we will have an easy election all throughout the country.”
Questioned on whether he will win Bio said “I am very confident I am going to defeat the president at the very first round.” Asked why he is so confident, Bio said “Well I have gone around this country, and I have seen how my message resonates with the people of this country, how they’ve responded to my messages and I am very confident that I am going to win at the first poll.”
Asked if he would accept the results if he loses the elections, the SLPP flagbearersaid “I have said always that we want a clean, clean election. An election whose results all of us can afford to live with. One that is not controversial. One that is transparent. One that is free of violence. Once we meet all of those criteria definitely I am ready … we did it before the SLPP as an incumbent definitely I am ready to live with a result that represent the wish and aspirations of the majority of the people of this nation.”
Asked whether he has any concerns about the polling elsewhere Bio said “except few hiccups here and there. I am told in Pujehun the ballot boxes have not got into certain points yet. We gave our agents registration slips so that they can cross check the number of people per polling stations. In certain instances they have been arrested and those registers taken from them. We’ve already reported that we think they should be able to check who is coming in, the number of people that have come in.”
Asked where that was done he said “In Makeni.”
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