Ambassador Speeches

Remarks for Ambassador June Carter Perry Public Affairs Section Thursday Night Connect.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening.

Thank you for welcoming me to the group this afternoon.  I have heard great things about previous sessions of our Thursday Night Connect program.  I’d like to recognize the efforts of the Public Affairs Section and particularly Marilyn Kamara in organizing this monthly gathering.  I’d also like to extend my thanks and welcome to the panelists, Mr. Bockarie Enssah and Mr. Sirajin M. Rollings-Kamara.  We hope there will be an open and frank discussion of the issues today.

I’d like to raise a topic for discussion that has been on all our minds in the past few months, but with a new twist.  Sierra Leone’s national elections were viewed as a success and a tribute to those who worked so hard to ensure their integrity.  Now, with a new government in power, cabinet, parliament, and a reinvigorated optimism about the potential for development in this country, now we may shift our focus to the future.  Next year’s local elections could consolidate and solidify the gains made so far if they rise to the standard we’ve come to expect from Sierra Leone.  However, if they are not successful, they could rob the Sierra Leonean people of the progress they’ve worked so hard to make.

While Sierra Leone prepares for its next elections in the Summer of 2008 the United States will also be preparing for an election.  Our presidential candidates have already begun campaigning in earnest, a phenomenon with which I know you can sympathize.  The candidates are many, the debates have been fiery, and the issues have begun to crystallize.  I think that, over the next year, Sierra Leoneans and Americans can learn a lot from each other.

Many of the same issues are central to the elections process in both Sierra Leone and the United States.  The integrity of the process and the maintenance of public order often take front stage, but it is the issues for debate which include a candidate’s vision and policies that should be at the center of it all.  The process is virtuous for its own sake, and the results should be an accurate reflection of the voters’ feelings on issues of national concern.

Campaign financing is a hotly-debated issue in the United States, as it is here. Incumbent party control over public resources for private campaigns combined with the phenomenal level of financial resources required to mount a campaign can often obscure the issues as voters struggle to choose the candidate who best represents their values and opinions.  Our Congress struggles with these issues before and after every election.  Progress is often slow, and the issue is constantly being refined.  Sierra Leonean lawmakers and citizens may derive lessons learned from this past election and institutionalize reforms so that next year’s elections are even better.

Violence during campaign or election periods must never be tolerated.  The recent elections were relatively free of violence, although some incidents did mar the record.  Police and other security forces must be independent, and empowered to prevent and stop violence impartially wherever it occurs, regardless of the perpetrator or victim’s political alliances.  The sanctity of the polling stations must be zealously guarded to ensure each person’s individual freedom to vote his or her conscience. During the national elections, Sierra Leone presented a model for other new democracies to emulate with its scrupulous respect for the integrity of the process.

The late Tip O’Neill, a longtime speaker of the United States House of Representatives once said “all politics is local.”  This statement becomes more and more accurate with each election, as access to information increases.  In the United States, individuals all over the country are showing increasing interest in national issues.  Of course the situation in Iraq and the War on Terror are of vital interest to the vast majority of Americans, but issues like health care, social security, and immigration have become focal points in elections at every level.  Indeed, voters are becoming more aware of national issues and the ways in which they can affect their lives, therefore, issues once thought of as national become relevant to local elections as well.  Likewise here, national elections are driven by local issues and conversely, many local elections next year may hinge upon matters of concern to all Sierra Leoneans.

Local elections, however, are still the best way for voters to express their concerns about issues specific to their region.  Parliamentarians are obligated to represent the concerns of their constituency in the national legislative body and local councils deliberate and decide on issues specific to localities.  They are also closer to the voters than national representatives, as is true around the world. They reside among the voters, and themselves face the same issues that are of concern to the community.  Local elections in the United States are often the primary way that individual citizens get involved in politics.  By volunteering for local campaigns, mobilizing voters, and even running for office, average Americans find ways to make their voices heard on issues of local concern.  Participation in elections can be an exciting way to get involved and it is especially easy to do so when the elections are specific to your hometown.  I encourage all of you to take ownership of the Sierra Leonean political process, not just by voting, but by campaigning, by speaking out, and indeed by running for office.  It is especially important for women to be an integral part of the electoral process, as the majority in many countries.

Again, I’d like to thank you for joining us here this evening.  I’m pleased to open this discussion to our panel, and I hope we will be able to shed new light on the similarities and differences between American and Sierra Leonean elections.  You will raise new issues for consideration.

I look forward to interacting with you all in the future on this and a host of other issues.