Some members of the diplomatic community in the country have expressed concerns about the country’s present security situation as the June 24, 2023 general elections draw near and they believe that the vote won’t be peaceful.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu, Speaker of Parliament of Sierra Leone, are two of the most recent foreign organizations to voice concern over the security of the June 24 general elections in 2023.

The Sierra Leonean delegation of the European Union, the British High Commissioner, the American Ambassador, and a number of local and international civil society organizations have all expressed similar concerns about security.

Recently, a group of stakeholders from the All Peoples Congress (APC) met with a mission from the UN and ECOWAS to discuss the political climate in the nation in advance of the next general elections.

Members of ECOWAS recently referred to the political climate in Sierra Leone as “unstable” while speaking before the ECOWAS Parliament in Nigeria.

The Sierra Leone report is “beautiful,” but there is a significant disagreement over representation and the manner in which the election will be conducted, according to some ECOWAS MPs. They added that “it is obvious that if you talk to other delegation members, they will tell that the political situation [in the country] is not stable.”

There is no reason for them to conceal the truth, according to the ECOWAS members. “We Nigerians would speak out if we believe there won’t be a free and fair election… and they said, “If we come here and pretend nothing is occurring and later anything happens, we have lost two countries because we know there is something there that might cause difficulties.

The presence of police officers in the legislature to maintain decorum, in the opinion of the MPs, indicates that the political climate of the nation is not stable.

According to the MPs, this is not the first time, not the second time, but the third time police personnel have entered parliament and forcibly removed MPs, and as a result, ECOWAS has to send a fact-finding team to investigate this serious infringement.

They stated that it is too disturbing that Sierra Leone is still attempting to amend its electoral laws in order to benefit the ruling elite after less than a year.

The MPs pointed out that altering the election system is equally as important as amending the legislation.

The MPs claimed that the Proportional Representation (PR) system is applicable in situations where there are no clearly defined constituencies and borders. They questioned how the government could switch to the proportional representation system of voting when there are clearly established political borders.

They claim that Sierra Leone last used a PR system for elections shortly after the conflict, when there were no electoral borders or regulations.

Additionally, the United Nations family functioning in Sierra Leone and the European Union mission have similarly highlighted similar security concerns about the staging of the June 24th 2023 election.

In order to ensure that the upcoming general elections in 2023 are conducted in a peaceful and secure environment, the ambassador has been engaging all relevant electoral stakeholders, according to the EU’s head of communications. She added that the EU team is also in discussions with the relevant members of Parliament and the Supreme Court regarding the use of the Proportional Representation or District Block System for the 2023 elections.

Members of Parliament are also concerned about the peaceful conduct of the elections next year. In his judgement on the most recent disturbances in the Well of Parliament, Speaker of the House Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu said that there are indications of a high level of unrest in the nation before the general elections in 2023. He advised all MPs to make sure they preach messages of peace to their constituents in order to prevent conflict between opposing political supporters throughout the campaign season.

Meanwhile, many residents who are not affiliated with any political party worry that the nation would lose some of its development projects if things go awry during the campaign season.