Sierra Leone's main opposition party, the All Peoples' Congress (APC), won parliamentary elections, defeating the ruling Sierra Leone's People's Party (SLPP) of vice president Solomon Berewa, according to results released Friday in Freetown, according to DPA. The APC took 59 of the 112 parliamentary seats over 43 seats for the SLPP in a hotly-contested poll, the first organized by Sierra Leonians themselves. Results were expected to be certified Saturday. Sierra Leone's constitution stipulates that a presidential candidate must win 55 per cent of votes to avoid a second round run- off but no one candidate secured that percentage. The run-off election is between the ruling SLPP candidate Vice President Berewa and APC's Ernest Bai Koroma on September 6, 2007 The landmark election is the second since civil war ended and was generally pronounced free and fair by local and international observers.
