By Nasratu Kargbo
42 members of Parliament have voted against the annulment of the Public Elections (Petitions) Rules 2022. An open vote was exercised following a private member’s motion proposed by APC Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Chernor Maju Bah.
The motion proposed by Bah was not carried, after his colleagues voted against his proposition. 22 others voted for the annulment, while 4 MPs from NGC did not participate in the voting process.
Speaking on the reasons why he wished for the annulment of the Public Elections (Petitions) Rules, Bah on the 24th January 2023 explained that it goes against the ECOWAS protocol, good governance and democracy, adding that it does not capture and cater for all elections.
He stated that the protocol of governance states that the laws to be used in elections should not be younger than six months. He explained that the petition rules are yet to take twenty-one days since laid before parliament, arguing that six months to elections should have been the 23 December 2022.
“These rules can’t be used for the 2023 election, because they will be younger than six months.” said the Leader. He added that the nation had signed to the ECOWAS protocol which made it mandatory that laws should not be modified six months to elections, stressing that Sierra Leone has to adhere to it.
Constituency 032 parliamentarian Mark Mahmoud Kalokoh who supported the motion stated that Section 2 Article 2 of the ECOWAS Protocol speaks on the 6 months ultimatum.
He stated that if they are to uphold the laws of the protocol, parliament would annul the document. Kalokoh emphasized that the country is a member of ECOWAS and should respect and work towards the rules.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Segepoh Solomon Thomas said that the rules do not go against the ECOWAS protocol.
Quoting article two of the protocol, he said: “No substantial modification shall be made to the electoral laws in the last six (6) months before the elections, except with the consent of a majority of political actors”. He explained that the Public Elections Rules do not fall under the substantive law, stating that they relate to procedural law.
Thomas said that he believes that the argument was unnecessary.
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