By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), with support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI), has engaged political parties in discussion of issues of the country’s governance system.
Addressing the political parties representatives at the meeting held at Peace Garden in Kenema, the chairman of PPRC, Abdulla Masiyambay Bangura, explained that the platform is created by the commission for inter-parties’ dialogue for all political parties on a monthly basis.
”We want to see how best political parties would be meeting to deliberate on national issues that will enhance peace. We want to create a platform were parties that are not in parliament will interface with parties in parliament, to talk about national issues for the interest of this nation,” he said.
He added that the commission considered political parties as key governance stakeholders for democratic consolidation, noting that the commission wanted to allow parties to have frantic discussion on their perception about the governance system.
Bangura went on to say that opposition parties have vital roles to play in governance.
The Program Manager, NDI, Jinnah Nyallay, noted that his organization has been able to re-establish country office in Sierra Leone this year with the aim of working with all political parties and other democratic institutions.
“We want to ensure peace is consolidated in this country after the election by working with all sectors. NDI will be working with twelve civil societies and NGOs to manage the national debates. This will enable political parties to disclose their challenges and policies to be implemented for the benefit of the citizens. This initiative by PPRC to see how political parties can sit on round table to vent their concerns is great,” he said.
She added that NDI will also be implementing some skills training programs in their scheduled activities for political parties’ women members.
The Regional Secretary General of the opposition All Peoples Congress Party (APC), Edie Korjueh, spoke about the need to consolidate peace.
“Civil war has tainted the image of democratic institutions as a country and we need to be careful with peace. Our peace in this country is fragile as a nation; we should be careful how to handle peace and how political leaders approach governance. We should not only push our political ideologies, but [shouls also be concerned about] how to enhance good governance and national unity,” he said.
Korjueh said that the Bintumani III conference initiated by the current administration was a great idea but that it started as “witch hunting of key APC leaders”.
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