By Saio Marrah
The Chairman of the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) Abdullai M. Bangura has said some political parties may not be able to contest the upcoming 2023 general elections because they are not functional which contravenes the PPRC Act of 2022.
Bangura was speaking at a stakeholders’ seminar on the state of electoral justice in Sierra Leone held at the Country Lodge Hotel in Freetown on Thursday 23rd March 2023 by the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), a Sierra Leone-based civil Society organization.
He said the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone has also asked the regulatory body to submit a list of registered and functional political parties in lieu of the upcoming June 24 general elections.
According to him, out of the existing 17 registered political parties, only the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), the main Opposition, the All People’s Congress (APC), and the National Grand Coalition (NGC) are functional.
The Chairman said for a political party to be functional according to the regulatory body’s new act, the organs of the political party must be functional by holding district, regional, and national lower-level elections of the party.
Holding delegate conferences and elections for national offices are all among the functions of the organs of a political party as well.
The Chairman also pointed out that political parties are also obliged to have regional offices across all the regions in the country, which is yet to be attained by most.
He made reference to the just concluded Nigerian elections, for which he said only 18 out of 76 registered political parties contested the elections because the rest were unable to fulfill the criteria, saying that the same situation will repeat itself in here Sierra Leone.
He also noted that the three political parties that have functional organs are yet to submit a report of their campaign financing to the regulatory body, which he said is a must according to law.
The PPRC Chairman said the campaign finance report for political parties includes how they get their money to support the campaign activities, and how they intend to spend it.
He said this is to prevent political parties from being sponsored by criminal organizations and by other people that cannot justify the sources of their earnings.
He also informed the stakeholders that the process of registration of a movement to a political party must be of a national nomenclature by having at least 50 registered members across the entire 16 districts in the country.
He pointed out that with the new act, PPRC can now regulate the conduct of political parties in relation to how they comport themselves towards their opponent like the use of abusive language and obstruction, which he said the authority can fine and sanction them for violation.
According to him, the commission can now also move in and address intra-party issues and ordinary members can now call on PPRC to address grievances within the party.
He highlighted that the new law has made it mandatory for political parties to ensure they give 30% to women in all the various positions.
On the issue of selecting a female candidate in every three nominees, in all elected public offices, he said there are discussions with political parties as to whether the female candidate shall be placed at the top, or in between the two men or otherwise.
The event brought together journalists, electoral management bodies, the Sierra Leone Police, and Civil Society groups among others.
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