By Saio Marrah
The Parliamentary Leader of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, Chernor Maju Bah has applauded the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) for “professionally and credibly” conducting the constituency 056 Parliamentary bye-election in Tonkolili district that was won by their candidate.
Bah said this during his felicitation statement as the newly elected Member of Parliament, Jawa Sesay, was being sworn in at the house of parliament on Wednesday 13th July 2022.
The Opposition leader praised God and the role played by ECSL saying: “They were very professional and so was the security sector. They did a fantastic job. All of us contributed in one way or the other, but NEC (now ECSL) as an institution provided the lead. We had observers from the international community and local groups, but the election was conducted by ECSL. So whatever we say, the first credit must go to ECSL.”
He added: “I would call on all of us as citizens to continue supporting NEC [ECSL] to achieve what is good and best for the Republic of Sierra Leone. We should not put them under any undue pressure at any pointing time whether it is from the government side or from the opposition. What we are supposed to do is to support them in doing what is right’’.
While welcoming Sesay, the opposition leader said even though they belong to various political parties they represent Sierra Leone and should defend the constitution above all.
Bah further admonished him that they as MPs have friends across the board in parliament and said there should not be any malice. He however noted that when they debate, they always stood their ground for what they believe.
The Leader of Government Business in parliament, Mathew S Nyuma, congratulated the new MP and encouraged him to read thoroughly all the protocols of the house.
He also praised the opposition leader for acknowledging the good work done by the ECSL and hoped that the statement made by Bah will resonate with all and sundry.
Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu described Jawa Sesay as his “last born” and promised that the new MP will be his “favourite son.”
The speaker reminded all parliamentarians in general to respect ECSL for its independence. He said that will help build democracy deeper in the country.
He also called on the Chairman of the ECSL to make sure under his leadership, the institution continues to do what is right and in accordance with the constitution of the land.
He said: “So that when we get our elected members of parliament we can proudly say yes, we are a democracy to be respected, we are a democracy that is taking deeper root in the soil of our beloved country”.
The main opposition now has 59 lawmakers in the house of parliament as against 58 MPs for the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Coalition for Change (C4C) party has eight, National Grand Coalition (NGC) four and three independent candidates. There are now 146 members of parliament of which 14 are paramount chiefs.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (18/07/22)
