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FACTBOX-Main candidates in Sierra Leone elections

10 Aug 2007 23:11:32 GMT
Source: Reuters

FREETOWN, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Sierra Leoneans vote on Saturday in their first presidential elections since a U.N. peacekeeping force left the war-shattered West African country two years ago.

Following are brief portraits of the main candidates.

SOLOMON BEREWA, SIERRA LEONE PEOPLE'S PARTY (SLPP)

Sierra Leone's vice president for the past five years, the 69-year-old was chosen by outgoing President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to succeed him as the candidate of the ruling SLPP.

A lawyer by training, Berewa served as attorney-general and minister of justice during Kabbah's wartime governments. He has a reputation for being tougher than the conciliatory Kabbah and has pledged zero-tolerance on corruption.

ERNEST BAI KOROMA, ALL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS (APC)

The 53-year-old former insurance executive ran as the opposition APC's candidate in the post-war elections in 2002, but was soundly beaten by Kabbah who was swept back to office.

Under Koroma's stewardship, the party which ruled Sierra Leone for two decades before the civil war performed strongly in 2004 local elections but descended into internal squabbling the following year. Koroma, re-elected as party leader in September 2005, has claimed he was the subject of an assassination attempt during the 2007 election campaign.

CHARLES MARGAI, PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (PMDC)

Margai is a scion of Sierra Leone's most famous political dynasty. His uncle Milton Margai was a founding member of the SLPP and Sierra Leone's first prime minister after independence in 1961. His father Albert took over the post in 1964.

A lawyer by profession, Margai founded the breakaway PMDC in 2006 after losing out on the presidential nomination of the SLPP the previous year. His new party is expected to drain some support from the SLPP in rural areas.

He is seen as a potential kingmaker should the presidential poll go to a second round between Berewa and Koroma.

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Last updated:Fri Aug 10 23:11:57 2007