I have always wanted Sierra Leone to revert to the Proportional Representation System or District Block System long before the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) announced that it would be the method that would be applied in next year’s multi-elections.

I do not agree with those who argue that by Section 38 (a) of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, President Julius Maada Bio acted outside the provisions of the 1991 Constitution by advising the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), Mohamed Kenewi Konneh, to announce that the 2023 general elections should be conducted using the PR System.

The Head of State acted correctly as that system is already in the Constitution of Sierra Leone. Those who are against the PR System are forgetting that the PR System was undeniably recommended in the 80-man Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) that was established by former President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2013, which was chaired by the late Justice Edmond Cowan for its revision since it was practiced in 1996 and 2002 elections.

Already the All Political Parties Association (APPA-SL), which consists of eleven registered political parties in Sierra Leone, has endorsed the Proportional Representation or District Block System, whilst some progressive Civil Society Organisations have urged the ECSL to take steps that would guarantee citizens’ say in designing rules and regulations for the PR System as well as in the party primaries that will eventually derive the party’s list for each district block.
The advantages of the PR System are many.

First of all, this system will see technocrats and apolitical candidates being fielded by political parties for Parliament, which will make debates in the well of parliament lively, educative, and interesting. Gone will be the days when the corridors of parliament will be walked by mediocrity.

Secondly, the Proportional Representation System or District Block System will be good for political stability in Sierra Leone. The violence which we always witness during by-elections will be a thing of the past.

Furthermore, it will also save the central government monies for conducting by-elections each time a Member of Parliament dies or is appointed to serve in the Executive arm of government. Those monies that would have been spent on conducting by-elections will be channeled to other areas for national development.

I wholeheartedly agree with the All Political Parties Association that the primary focus of a PR system 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.

With the current First-Past-The-Post electoral system, only the bigger parties will survive while smaller parties with good national agendas will not be able to make it through.

The SLPP government, and by extension President Julius Maada Bio, is right about advising that next year’s general elections are held under the Proportional Representation System or District Block System. That is my take on this issue.