Stephen V Lansana
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

Sierra Leone News: RUFP will not Join Alliance

By Stephen V. Lansana

Chairman of RUFP Media Committee, James Samuel Cole

The Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP) has indicated that it will not join the Grand Alliance, a coalition of opposition parties that is geared towards defeating the All People’s Congress (APC) party in the 2018 elections.

These comments were made by the Chairman of the media committee of RUFP, James Samuel Cole, in an exclusive interview with Premier News.

He said that the party emanated from a revolutionary movement and cannot undermine its ideology through “sycophancy and parochialism”. Cole noted that by joining the Alliance, they will be surrendering the ideology of their party.

“We are not going to be part of any grand coalition. We are a revolutionary group and we cannot afford to compromise our ideology,” he emphasised.

He believes that an Alliance will not succeed in Sierra Leone. It’s just a waste of time because those who want to form an alliance are people that lack integrity, noting that they are in search of ways and means to seek revenge. “Those who thought that their party was unfair to them are the ones who want to seek revenge,” he said.

A founding member and head of media of PMDC, Mr Raymond Bamidele Thompson had said earlier that the Coalition is in its infancy, and that they are putting together the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will bind each member of the Coalition.

When asked about names of political parties that have shown interest in becoming members of the Coalition, he said he would not name the parties now until they have shown commitment to the Coalition by signing the MOU. “It could be 24 parties in the Coalition against the APC,” he said.

He noted that the greater the number of political parties in the Coalition the better the chances for them to win the election with no runoff.

He said the coalition will be unveiled this month, adding that they are expecting many political parties to join the Alliance.

He said political parties do not have to wait until the Grand Alliance is formed before they embark on their activities. He called on political parties to start working, so that their membership will increase.

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