It has never happened in the history of elections in Sierra Leone. But it might happen for the 2023 Presidential Elections.

Aggrieved members of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) have told Night Watch Newspaper that the country is about to witness something that has never happened before in any ward, council, district, constituency or presidential election.

Speaking in hushed tones, the high ranking member of the SLPP categorically stated that “PAOPA is not SLPP.” Having made that clarification, the men said President Bio’s approval rating, not only among the opposition but also among the rank and file of the SLPP is so low that “it threatens the very soul of the SLPP.”

For that reason, and mainly to wrestle control of the SLPP from PAOPA, the men said that they are looking up to certain individuals within the SLPP and disappointed PAOPA members to challenge President Bio during the primary or national delegates’ convention.

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Asked why this sudden move, the men said that the move is not sudden. Having watched President Bio and his PAOPA ideologues wreck the country’s economy in under four years, they are no longer willing “to sit aside and watch them attempt to steal their way into a second term. This will ruin the country,” they said.

Asked whether it is common for partisans to challenge an incumbent president for the chance to go against a challenger from the opposition, the men pointed to the United States of America. They said US President Jimmy Carter’s ratings were so low after the fall of the Shah of Iran that coupled with huge lines at gas stations for fuel, high inflation and energy shortage, Carter was forced to make changes to his cabinet, which was a sign of failure of his handpicked technocrats to get the job done, hence his failure as president.

According to the men, some Democrats felt it worth the risk to mount a challenge to Carter in the primaries or national delegates’ conference. Although Hugh Carey and William Proxmire decided not to run, Senator Edward M. Kennedy finally made his long-expected run at the presidency. In the summer of 1979, Kennedy consulted with his extended family, and that fall, he let it leak out that because of Carter’s failings, 1980 might indeed be the year he would try for the nomination. The Gallup Poll had him beating the president by over two to one, but Carter remained confident, famously claiming at a June White House gathering of Congressmen that if Kennedy ran against him in the primary, he would “whip his ass.”

In the end Carter beat Kennedy decisively in Iowa and New Hampshire. Carter decisively defeated Kennedy everywhere except Massachusetts, until impatience began to build with the President’s strategy on Iran. When the primaries in New York and Connecticut came around, it was Kennedy who won.

Nevertheless, Carter was still able to maintain a substantial lead even after Kennedy won the key states of California and New Jersey in June. Despite this, Kennedy refused to drop out, and the 1980 Democratic National Convention was one of the nastiest on record. On the penultimate day, Kennedy conceded the nomination and called for a more liberal party platform in what many saw as the best speech of his career. On the stage on the final day, Kennedy for the most part ignored Carter. As of 2020, Kennedy remains the last challenger to defeat an incumbent in any of his/her party’s statewide presidential primary contests.

So, while Carter went on to win the flag because of a few blunders by Kennedy, the stage was then set that any incumbent that risks denting the image of the party and ruining the economy can and should be challenged. At present, President Julius Maada Bio is failing. With the economy on a free falling price hike spree, the removal of fuel subsidies having a domino effect on the prices of goods and services, and allegations and revelations of widespread corruption in the New Direction government, the ranking SLPP members that spoke to this medium said there are many in PAOPA and SLPP that can challenge President Bio for the party’s flag for 2023.

The men said President Bio was not supposed to run in 2018, according to the SLPP Constitution. Having failed at a presidential election in 2012, they said that should have been the end of Bio chasing State House. But, true to his forceful PAOPA ideology, Bio resurfaced and won 2018.

But now that his leadership style and the incompetence of his ministers and other appointed lieutenants has been displayed for all to see in Sierra Leone as evident in the lack of meaningful development and job creating opportunities for the citizenry, everyone is calling for the president’s removal, even within the grassroots of his party.

But who in the SLPP will challenge President Bio? Some suggested the very ambitious Professor David Francis, the Chief Minister, and others. The men suggested that with Dr Prince Harding finding himself being sidelined by the tribal cabal within the SLPP for the chairman of the party and Bio making changes to the SLPP Constitution to have his way, he could also be a fine contender. Even Dr Kandeh K. Yumkella was suggested.

That said, the men believe that the writing is on the wall for President Bio. They said from his disregard for laws and procedures, his poor handling of the economy and his fight against corruption, the obvious lack of concern he showed when party thugs destroyed and allegedly set a building on fire at Belgium, his response to the Susan’s Bay disaster and the many police killings across the country, the time has come for someone else to be given the chance to rescue not only Sierra Leone but the SLPP from PAOPA. “It’s either that or many of us are going to vote APC, or run as independents,” they said.

Interesting times are indeed ahead for Sierra Leone’s political landscape. Don’t say we didn’t tell you.