By Alieu Amara Suwu
A press statement dated 28 November 2022, published by the JFK and Partners law firm for the attention of the general public that an Originating Notice of Motion has been filed with the Supreme Court for a Declaration amongst others, that the Directive issued by President Maada Bio, to the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), to hold public elections for ordinary Members of Parliament by the Proportional Representation System, where there are extant and subsisting constituencies, is inconsistent with Section 38(a) of Constitutional Amendment, Act No.15 of 2001.
The press statement said Proportional Representation, is itself a product of its time; it is a fall-back position when there were no constituencies or wards for the purposes of public elections in the country. It says that was the rationale and the prevailing circumstances that warranted and justified the amendment introduced in 200l as now contained in Section 38(a) of the Constitution. It explains that the Sierra Leone had then just come through a brutal and destabilising rebel war foisted on the country which resulted in the destabilisation of communities nationwide, apart from the loss of human lives and destruction of property.
It further states that an immediate effect of such a situation was the absence of settled communities and constituencies; hence, the justification for the introduction of the Proportional Representation System. It adds that it was then seen as a contingency provision and not intended to be a regular format for public or general elections for Parliament. It claims that, plainly these conditions do not now prevail in the country and therefore recourse cannot lawfully and properly be had to such a system, in the face of existing constituencies and wards.
Furthermore, it states that the power given to the ECSL is to conduct and supervise elections, and not to determine the form or mode of Elections. ‘Section 68 of the Public Elections Act 2022 is clear as to what constitutes the conduct of elections. To change the format or mode of elections is a matter of primary legislation, reserved for the Legislature and not the subject of a Statutory Instrument,’ it states.
In conclusion, it notes that all of those, the controversy generated by the purported Presidential Directive and the irregularity of Statutory Instrument No.83 2022 cannot be underscored, as it degenerated into Parliamentary chaos, public shock and concern. On that note, it therefore, states that the Supreme Court in the filed Originating Notice of Motion is urged to declare null and void the Presidential Directive and Statutory Instruments No. 83 of 16th November 2022 now purportedly laid before Parliament.
