By Nasratu Kargbo
Members of Sierra Leone Parliament will elect a new Speaker tomorrow 13th July 2023 to lead the sixth Parliament of the republic.
According to the Clerk of Parliament Umar Paran Tarawally, MPs will elect the Speaker after they would have been sworn into office.
When asked whether Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu will come back as Speaker of Parliament, Tarawally said he cannot determine that, explaining that the MPs are solely responsible for that, saying that his responsibility will be to preside over events on that day.
Stating the qualifications one should have to assume the office of the Speaker, the Clerk explained that a person who has served one term and is elected for the second time is qualified, and could also be a person who has served two terms and no longer a sitting MP.
He added it is left to those qualified to put themselves up and campaign to MPs to vote them in.
Highlighting what is to be expected during the first sitting, he said it will involve the administering of the oath of office for all elected MPs that will certify them as members of parliament, to be followed by a welcome address, and election of speaker.
Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu was the Speaker of the fifth parliament with Segepoh Solomon Thomas his Deputy .
There are speculations Bundu may not come again as speaker of the house. However, his then deputy Thomas and Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament Sidie Mohamed Tunis are amongst the big names linked to the position.
The sixth parliament will be made up of a total of one hundred and forty-nine members , with eighty-one MPs from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), fifty-four from the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), and fourteen paramount chiefs.
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