By Nasratu Kargbo
Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu has been reelected Speaker of Sierra Leone’s Parliament. He was elected on the 13th of July 2023 after going unopposed.
Bundu won with a simple majority of ninety-two votes in his favour, whilst three voted against him. The Clerk of Parliament Umar Paran Tarawally who acted as Presiding Officer announced Bundu as the Speaker on the fourth round of voting.
He said that the nominee for the speakership will need two thirds of the votes to be pronounced speaker. The Clerk explained that two thirds of the one hundred and forty-nine members of parliament elected should be ninety-nine, noting that the Speaker should be able to get that amount of votes in his favour.
Reading from the Standing Order (SO), the Clerk stated: “The Sanding Order (SO) 8 (7) provided that if three successive resolutions proposing the election of the Speaker fail to receive the vote of two thirds of all the members of parliament, the Speaker shall be elected by a resolution passed by a simple majority of all members of parliament“.
With all of the APC MPs being absent except for one, the total number of MPs that were present in the chamber did not meet the required threshold to elect the speaker. After conducting the election three times without meeting the threshold, Tarawally conducted the election for the fourth time, noting that a simple majority of one hundred and forty-nine is seventy-five votes.
Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas was re-elected deputy speaker of parliament with ninety-six votes.
The newly elected Speaker of Parliament Chernor Abass Bundu announced the leadership position with Leader of Government Business and Deputy Leader Mathew S. Nyuma and Bashiru Silikie respectively. The two had served in the same capacities during the sixth parliament.
Former Leader of Coalition for Change (C4C) in the fifth parliament Emerson Saa Lamina who transitioned to the ruling party was named Deputy Leader II.
Dickson Roger assumed his former position as the Chief Whip for the government bench, whilst Veronica K. Sesay and Ibrahim T. Conteh were named deputy chief whip I and II respectively.
The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament Sidie Mohamed Tunis was amongst the big names that were vying for the speakership position.
When asked about his stance on a television live coverage at the induction ceremony that was held for MPs on the 12th of July 2023, Tunis explained that members of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) are family and that they had already chosen Bundu to lead as speaker for two years, noting that due to the agreement they’ve had as a family he would not contest.
Another person who had expressed interest in the position was the deputy speaker.
The sixth parliament is made up of a total of one hundred and forty-nine members of parliament, with eighty-one MPs from the ruling SLPP, fifty-four from the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), and fourteen paramount chiefs.
Only ninety-six were sworn in during the first sitting, eighty-one of whom are members of the ruling party, fourteen paramount chiefs, and one member from the opposition. The total number of MPs that did not subscribe to the oath of office is fifty-three, all from the opposition.
Parliament was adjourned to the 18th July 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (14/07/23)
