Ahead of the June 2023 Multitier Elections, the All Political Parties Association (APPA-SL), which consists of eleven registered political parties in Sierra Leone, has endorsed the Proportional Representation (PR) District Block System, declared on the 21st October 2022 by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), as directed by the President, Brigadier (Red) Julius Maada Bio after consultation with the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewi Konneh

The position of APPA-SL was on the 31st of October. 2022 made known at a Press Conference held at the New Brookfields Hotel on Jomo Kenyatta Road in Freetown

In their Press Statement read by APPA SL Secretary General, Ibrahim Surie Sesay, they stated that by Section 38 (a) of the 1991 National Constitution of Sierra Leone, the President, Brigadier c (Retired) Julius Maada Bio did not act outside the provisions of the 1991 Constitution.

The PR System, according to Prince Coker of APPA, is w and it S ts, not President Bio who called for it but was fortunate to succeed under t his New Direction Government.

The release stated that a t PR System was unequivocally recommended in the 80-man Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) 1 established by former President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2013, chaired by the late Justice Edmond Cowan for its revision since it was practised in 1996 and 2002 elections.

APPA-SL commended President Bio for heeding what they referred to as a “long-awaited” call from the people of Sierra Leone, as sovereignty belongs to the people, and as APPA they believe that the PR system is the political system that will help consolidate national peace, tolerance and cohesion an eliminates the political barriers presently surrounding our State Politics

The Chief Electoral Commission of Surfers Leone (ECSL), Mohamed Keneri Koneh was commended for his exemplary leadership and for taking the appropriate steps under the laws of the land

APPA SI unapologetically prefers the use of the Playster to the “First Past the Post in the forthcoming Public Elections because it is believed that it will promote political tolerance, peace, political fairness and inclusion of the views of the minority and their participation in governance

In a bid to actualize the desired goals of the PR System. APPA SL calls for a timely intervention in the following APPA-SL calls on the ECSL and all Political Parties to embark on more sensitization across the country to ensure a wider and more comprehensive understanding of the PR System

APPA-SL urges ECSL to call a meeting of all political parties to collectively review the regulations as to what should be the threshold or percentage that will determine a seat in parliament or local councils

The primary focus of a PR system, the release states is to allow for greater political participation and fairness, by -creating a platform for the smaller political parties to be represented in both parliament and local councils; APPA-SL called to be empowered to help disseminate vital information on the PR System to avoid voter apathy.

To the Civil Society Organisations (CO) in Sierra Leone, APPA expects all to be apolitical and responsible in the delivery of the PR System The ceremony was graced by representatives of all the eleven political parties, excluding the six members of a loose alliance called COPPP