UN ENVOY OFFICIAL CONGRATULATES SIERRA LEONE ON PEACEFUL ELECTIONS

UN ENVOY OFFICIAL CONGRATULATES SIERRA LEONE ON PEACEFUL ELECTIONS
New York, Aug 12 2007 11:00AM
A senior United Nations official in Sierra Leone today congratulated the country's people on the peaceful conduct of their presidential and parliamentary elections -- the first held there since UN peacekeepers departed two years ago -- and appealed for continued calm.

"Wait patiently for the results and keep the same spirit of tolerance you have shown during the campaigns," said Victor Angelo, the Executive Representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a message to the electorate.

"Now that the counting of ballots has started, I appeal to all of you, women, men and youth, to go home and let the National Electoral Commission and its polling officers do their work," he said, noting that UN officials as well as national and international observers are facilitating the process.

The UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other international partners have provided technical assistance to the country's National Electoral Commission to ensure that the elections meet international standards, including by training 37,000 polling staff.

The vote was Sierra Leone's second since the end of the decade-long civil war in 2002, and the first since the withdrawal of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in December 2005.

2007-08-11 00:00:00.000

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