APC FIRES WARNING SHOT
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara(Kamalo)
The main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party in Sierra Leone has condemned and rejected the imposition of the Proportional Representation (PR) system, executive power sharing, and the creation of new political divisions, calling the moves reckless, and a brazen attempt by the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) led government to override the country’s hard-earned democracy.
“These moves are blatant subversion of our democracy and the Constitution, and a dangerous attempt to create a de facto one-party rule in Sierra Leone,” rebukes a press statement released by the party on Thursday, 2 October.
The APC party argues that the primary and preferred mode of electing representatives is through a constituency-based First-Past-Post (FPTP) system, while the PR system is only contemplated in exceptional circumstances, such as when there is a national crisis and constituencies cannot be drawn.
In the absence of any national crisis with constituencies well in place, the APC says any attempt to permanently replace the FPTP system with the PR system is unconstitutional, and will be resisted.
The opposition party registers a deep suspicion over the timing and push for the PR system, despite recent nationwide consultations, single-handedly conducted by the government under Resolution 78 of the Tripartite Committee, reveal an unwavering public support for a return to the FPTP system.
According to the APC, ignoring the will of the people amounts to a breach of the true norms of democracy.
It has also vowed to resist the attempt by the government to create an executive power-sharing system, describing its entire nature as lacking the genuineness of power-sharing model for national cohesion, but a ploy by the government to establish itself as a one-party regime.
The APC has warned that imposing unpopular political reforms on the people has always been the cause for broken peace, citing Kenya’s post-election crisis in 2007, noting that Sierra Leone cannot afford to create a recipe for chaos, as peace and stability are what the country needs.
In addition, the APC says it is deeply troubled by reports about government’s moves to creat districts through a process that lacks the essential components of democratic practice, transparency, evidence-based assessment and public participation, arguing that administrative restructuring must be grounded in legal justification and demographic data. For the party also, the legitimacy of any administrative change rests on democratic practice, and warns that the objections raised by people from across the country are a healthy and necessary response to the opaque or politically expedient decisions that bypass public scrutiny.
The APC press statement recalls that after the rigged 2023 elections, the country embarked on a dialogue that culminated to the Bintumani Agreement for National Unity, and the formation of the Tripartite Committee.
With the only path to peace lies in the full implementation of the committee’s recommendations, which include electoral reforms aimed at restoring credibility and transparency, the APC, therefore, called on civil society, religious leaders and the international community to take note of what it described as “dangerous developments” and to support efforts to safeguard Sierra Leone’s democracy.
Meanwhile, the APC party has vowed to call its followers to peaceful protests in resistance of any unconstitutional changes to the electoral system.
“Sierra Leone belongs to all its citizens, not to a ruling party desperate to perpetuate its stay in power through constitutional fraud,” the statement ends.