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Opposition politician and Political commentator Sylvia Olayinka Blyden says she has designed a new constitutional framework aimed at increasing the number of women elected to Sierra Leone’s Parliament without changing the country’s 1991 Constitution.
In a Facebook post published on Sunday, Blyden questioned the argument that the Proportional Representation (P.R.) electoral system alone guarantees greater female representation in Parliament.
Referring to the 2023 parliamentary elections, she noted that no woman was elected to Parliament from Falaba District and argued that the outcome demonstrates the need for a different approach to achieving broader gender representation.
“If P.R. gives us more Women MPs, why did the entire Falaba district not elect any woman to Parliament in 2023?” Blyden wrote.
She said she has developed what she described as “a new constitutional system” that would increase the number of women elected from all districts under a constituency-based electoral system while retaining the provisions of the 1991 Constitution.
According to Blyden, the proposal would not require amendments to the Constitution. She added that she is currently consulting stakeholders before making the details public.
“I have designed a new constitutional system to get more Women from ALL districts into Parliament under the Constituency Based elections system without amending the 1991 Constitution. I will unveil it next week after I finish consulting with stakeholders,” she stated.
Blyden did not disclose additional details about the proposed framework or identify the stakeholders involved in the consultation process. Her announcement comes as discussions over electoral systems and women’s representation in Sierra Leone’s governance continue.
