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Sierra Leone Civil Society Condemns Constitutional Amendment
Freetown, 19th November, 2013: We, the undersigned civil society organizations, unequivocally condemn today’s speedy passage of a Constitutional Instrument that seeks to amend Section 79 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone. This amendment essentially emasculates the criteria for the position of the Speaker of Parliament. Section 79(1) of the 1991 Constitution provides, among other things, that the “Speaker of Parliament shall be elected by Members of Parliament from among persons who are Members of Parliament or are qualified to be elected as such and who are qualified to be appointed judges of the superior court of judicature or have held such office”.Unfortunately, today’s amendment grossly weakens this provision and further raises questions about our parliamentarians’ commitment to the ongoing constitutional review process.
Civil society views this move as a calculated effort to undermine public confidence in the ongoing constitutional review process, and sends a negative message about the country’s democratic credentials.We are concerned that the amendment provides that the Speaker of Parliament shall be elected from among only Members of Parliament with at least ten years experience as a parliamentarian.
We urge the President of Sierra Leone to reject the amendment by refusing to give it his assent. “The President has an opportunity to protect his hard earned democratic credentials by rejecting this amendment.’ We can only urge him to do the right thing by allowing the people of Sierra Leone to make the decision on the review process; as well as the members of the Constitutional Review Committee to perform their assigned responsibilities’, said Marcella Samba-Sesay, Director of Programmes, Campaign for Good Governance (CGG).
The undersigned wishes to reiterate that the previous law strongly upholds our democratic credentials as we want a speaker who could rise above partisan politics and the negative implications it has for stability and peaceful co-existence of our society.
“Constitutional reform processes are national processes that should be consultative and participatory. Parliament cannot take upon itself to amend such an important section of our constitution sidestepping the ongoing constitutional reform process” says Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, Executive Director, Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI), Sierra Leone.
Civil Society continues to reaffirm its unflinching commitment and support to the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) and urges Parliament to respect the Process led by the committee.
SIGNED................................................ Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) Civil Society Engagement on Elections & Electoral Processes in Sierra Leone (CSEEP) Center for the Coordination of Youth Activities (CCYA) Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR) Citizens for Constitutional Change, Sierra Leone Democracy and Development Associates (DADA-SL) Democracy Sierra Leone (DSL) Disability Rights Movement (DRIM) Independent Youth Forum (IYF) Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) National Election Watch (NEW) National Forum for Human Rights (NFHR) Natural Resource Governance and Economic Justice Network (NaRGEJ) Network Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (NMDHR) Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) Partners Initiative for Conflict Transformation (PICOT) Prisons Watch Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Sierra Leone Association of the Blind (SLAB) Sierra Leone Market Women’s Association (SLMWA) Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI) Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone (SDI) Society for Learning and Yearning for Equal Opportunities (SLYEO) Trade Union Confederation of Sierra Leone (TUC-SL) Women’s Forum
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