Sierra Leone\u2019s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alpha Sesay Esq., has authoritatively declared that the country could hold a constitutional referendum either before or alongside the 2028 general elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The disclosure comes as the 1991 Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025, has resulted to a deadlock in Parliament following prolonged debates and disagreements between the government and opposition sides, particularly over the proposed Proportional Representation (PR) system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confirmed reports say the opposition All People\u2019s Congress (APC) has remained stoutly opposed to the constitutional amendments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Attorney General, he affirmed government\u2019s commitment to allowing Sierra Leoneans to decides on a new constitutional framework through a public vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some political commentators say it is apparently good news for all meaningful citizens that projects better future for Sierra Leone and its peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The impasse in the constitutional amendments debates include: Presidential Election Threshold: The first-round victory requirement shifts from 55% to a simple majority (50%+1), with at least 20% of votes in two-thirds of the country\u2019s voting districts; Electoral System: move from First-Past-The-Post (constituency-based) to Proportional Representation, eliminating by-elections; removal of President and Vice President: Parliament, by a two-thirds majority, would be the sole body empowered to remove a sitting President or Vice-President who has been expelled from the party under which they were elected; appointment of the Chief Electoral Commissioner: The President will not directly appoint the Chief Electoral Commissioner; instead, a Search and Nomination Committee will nominate the commissioner, who must meet specified requirements; fixed date for general elections: General elections will be held on the second Saturday of November in every election year; women\u2019s representation: At least 30% of a political party\u2019s nominees for national and local government elections must be women; Independent Presidential Candidates: Independent candidates may contest the presidency; candidates are no longer required to run under a political party if they meet the presidential eligibility criteria; time to resign to contest Parliament: The period to resign from any public office in order to contest a seat in Parliament is reduced from 12 months to 6 months; petitioning election results: The window to file a petition in the Supreme Court against election results is reduced from seven days to three days after results are announced; dual citizenship: Certain categories of dual citizens are disqualified from holding the offices of President, Vice President, or Speaker of Parliament and Presidential Transition Limits: After an election, outgoing presidents would be restricted from making major public appointments, signing major contracts, or pursuing significant institutional changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It could be recalled Members of Parliament have been debating the 2025 Constitutional Amendments Bill since last week and there has been no breakthrough between the main political parties-SLPP and APC to arrive at a new constitution for Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Referendum Optional!! Sierra Leone\u2019s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alpha Sesay Esq., has authoritatively declared that the country could hold a constitutional referendum either before or alongside the 2028 general elections. The disclosure comes as the 1991 Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025, has resulted to a deadlock in Parliament following prolonged debates and disagreements between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-story","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n