By Abass Jalloh
All Political Parties Association- Sierra Leone (APPA-SL) has called for the use of the Proportional Representation (PR) system in the upcoming 2023 national elections, as against the First Past the Post (FPTP) system.
The association made this call yesterday 12th July 2022 at a press conference at the Brookfields Hotel in Freetown, reacting to the PR and Draft Political Parties Bill that is currently before parliament.
“The PR system strengthens inclusivity and calls for increased political participation in our body politic, as it is more representative and would accelerate gender empowerment,” a statement by the APPA-SL reads, noting that the system also guarantees women across the country their 30% quota representation in parliament.
The association added that “it (PR) will put an end to security threats and tensions that characterize bye-elections, thereby eliminating the idea of bye-elections in case of death or incapacity of a sitting parliamentarian.”
The statement went on to say that the PR system reduces the campaign burden on the individual candidate and promotes national cohesion and the consolidation of peace.
The association also drew the attention of parliament to the clause which sets rigid criteria for political parties that cannot score a threshold of 2% in national elections to be deregistered, urging it “to be expunged in the bill, as that clause was unanimously rejected by all stakeholders in the entire electoral and legal reforms conferences.”
“APPA-SL sees it as a major barrier that will undermine the spirit behind the creation of the Sierra Leone 1991 Constitution, which is founded on the principles of multiparty democracy and the rights of association,” it states.
The PR system is an old form of doing elections in Sierra Leone, according to the Secretary-General of APPA-SL, Ibrahim Sesay, and “it has been in existence based on the call of the people the leaders are representing”.
The Chairman of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Dr. Prince Harding stated that SLPP has been part of APPA since its inception and that the APC was “part and parcel” but were being led ‘’astray”.
The leaders of the member parties of APPA-SL were present at the press conference. However, according to the Chairman, Prince Coker, there are only 11 legally registered political parties in the association with the exception of the main opposition APC and NGC.
Copyright © 2022 Politico (13/07/22)
