By Saio Marrah
Members of Parliament representing the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party in parliament have for the second time refused to debate the 2022 Elections Act on the grounds of first amending the country’s constitution before the continuation of the debate.
They had first boycotted the first reading and debate claiming not to have received the document by then.
APC parliamentarian Alpha Amadu Bah representing constituency 115, Western Area Urban said the bill was not properly drafted and that some of its provisions require an amendment to the 1991 constitution.
Qualification to become a member of parliament was one of the issues he raised saying the constitution did not allow a person with dual citizenship to contest for a parliamentary seat. He observed that the bill allows for a dual citizen to contest for parliamentary election in the country, but cannot contest the presidential election.
In his response, the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Mathew Saa Nyuma, appealed for the continuation of the debate and that an instrument for amendment of the constitution will be tabled before parliament tomorrow on Tuesday.
Nyuma said the election bill will not be passed into law until the amendment of the relevant provisions in the constitution.
The arguments became quite intense with the main opposition leader, Chernor Maju Bah describing the intended process as putting the cart before the horse. He said the act of debating the document before the constitutional amendment was wrong. He stated that the provisions in the bill they were about to debate have their foundations in the constitution and therefore, before continuing with the debate, they should first deal with the constitution.
In his reaction, the Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu, said he will not under his watch allow anyone to violate or indirectly amend the constitution.
He described the continuation of the second reading and debate, as not yet at the stage of violating the constitution. He however said that the second reading will not be completed until the amendment of the constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority vote in favour of the amendment.
After engaging the leadership of the political parties in parliament, he later allowed the continuation of the debate, which he said will be completed after the amendment of the constitution.
Paul Saa Sam, a member of the Coalition for Change (C4C), criticized a provision in the bill that calls for proportional representation, which he argued gives powers to the leaders of the political parties to decide who should be members of parliament of their parties. He said this takes the power from the people from directly choosing their representatives.
He said the proportional system, also known as the district block system is not good for a healthy democracy, claiming it reduces the power of the people.
He recalled having a town hall meeting with his constituents in Kono, whom he said are not in favour of the propositional system. He said his constituents also frown at the 30% quota for women's representation.
The lawmaker also claimed that proportional representation will contribute to the killing of smaller parties.
However, Mustapha Musa Sellu, of the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), representing constituency 095 Moyamba district said the proportional system of representation will allow for parties to have members of parliament from their opponent’s strongholds, which he said will eliminate the issues of regionalism and tribalism attributed to political parties.
He said the bill also calls for the appointment of electoral commissioners for all the five regions in the country and drew attention to the present setup that he says shows the North-West of the county as not having an electoral commissioner.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (04/07/22)
