As development partners insist on the implementation of the 80 recommendations of the Tripartite Committee, Umar Paran Tarawally is jittery and panic-stricken at the eleventh hour.
Paran Tarawally is the Secretary-General of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and one of those officials opposed to the Agreement for National Unity (ANU) signed by government and the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) to end the post-election stalemate of June, 2023 elections.
The signing ceremony took place at the Bintumani hotel in Freetown where the two opposing political parties were well represented in the presence of the international community and development partners.
In a video that has gone viral on several media platforms, the SLPP scribe said his party was not part of the Agreement for National Unity (ANU).
“It does not mean that when government signs an agreement, the party, SLPP is part of it. Government has its own position while the party maintains its position,” he told the media adding that his party and government were two different entities although critics have voiced out contrary views.
Paran further emphasised that his party, SLPP would not take part in the implementation of the recommendations as they do not recognise government’s position towards the ANU.
If Paran is clearly understood, he means that decisions taken by the government is not binding on the party, but many political analysts and commentators have raised questions about who make up SLPP in response to Paran’s last-minute stance.
The SLPP as it stands is the ruling party made up by the President, Vice President, Chief Minister and other ministers meaning and analysts have argued that SLPP is the government and the government is SLPP. According to their argument, whatever decision taken by government reflects on the SLPP and the party is bound to follow the decision.
President Julius Maada Bio, the debate goes on, represents and controls every institution within the state including his own party of which he is the leader. The recent amendment effected to the SLPP Constitution makes President Bio leader of the party, and that according to political analysts any agreement he signed and launched, it therefore becomes an obligation for party members to follow.
The ANU, analysts and commentators argued, was signed by the Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh and launched by the President who are top executive SLPP members.
However, such arguments, though could be watertight for the opposition side but for the ruling party, it has left more questions than answers.
But, observers in the media and the public who have been following political events in the country said the SLPP scribe had a genuine cause to be jittery about the implementation of the recommendations which they see as an easy way for SLPP to exit power.
The implementation, if carried full to the brim, will forestall election rigging and makes it difficult for “SLPP to win elections democratically” as stated by the erstwhile chairman, Alex Prince Harding.
The ex-SLPP chairman made the statement at a time his mandate of leading his party was coming to an end.
The statement could be interpreted to mean that If SLPP will lose the election if measures are taken to block election rigging ahead of 2028 election.
Paran, analysts argue, has a cause to be panic-stricken especially when one looks back at his role in the early days of SLPP in governance particularly ordering and inciting the physical attacks on APC parliamentarians, a precursor to the eventual imposition of the Speaker of Parliament on opposition politicians.
Video footages were visible in the public showing how APC parliamentarians were scolded and dragged out of parliament referring to them as strangers. Some opposition politicians who spoke to this press said it was a ploy to stop APC parliamentarians from voting in the election of the Speaker of parliament.
The Speaker is usually elected on simple majority and APC had the majority with 69 seats at that time, and they would have clinched victory had they voted. The only to deprive them of the speakership was to stop them from voting by hook or crook.
The worst came on a Friday afternoon when 10 APC members of parliament were removed as a result of a high court’s decision following petitions filed by the ruling party.
Consequently, the APC parliamentarians were replaced with runners up of the ruling party, a move which lawyers said run contrary to the country’s electoral laws particularly the Public Elections Act, 2012.
The law in question states that where a petition by the petitioners is upheld, the court must order a rerun and not a replacement.
As a result of this action, the SLPP scribe fears retaliation from the opposition side if they take over state governance as he is widely seen by APC ranks as the man behind the scheme.
A popular argument however holds that Paran ought to have taken a tough stance before the signing of the ANU, but his statement comes at a time the Sierra Leonean public and the international community intensify calls for the implementation of the 80 recommendations for electoral reforms. Members of the international community (UN, EU, Commonwealth, AU, ECOWAS) are on government’s neck reminding them that it is time for the implementation of the recommendations.
These recommendations emanate from the election probe conducted by the Tripartite Committee owing to allegations of electoral malpractices made by the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC).
It is hoped that the full implementation of the recommendations will lead to transparent, free and fair electoral processes in the future beginning with the 2028 elections.
Despite its criticisms and challenges, the ANU has been referred to as one of the significant achievements of the Julius Maada Bio regime.
State government was almost close to its collapse by the refusal of the APC’s elected officials (parliamentarians, mayors, chairmen and councillors) to take up their seats in parliament and councils across the country.
The opposition’s three-month boycott raised alarm among the international community especially Commonwealth and ECOWAS parliaments which similarly declined to work with Sierra Leone’s parliament led by only one party. The international community usually does not work with one-party parliament owing to the demands of multi-party democracy.
As a result, investment stifled as governance activities were brought to a sudden halt, a situation which also sparked national concerns.
At such time of democratic backsliding and threats of unrest, government through the Peace Commission, called in the moral guarantors to broker a peace deal between them and opposition politicians.
The deliberations, led by former Gambian Vice President, Fatoumata Tambajang Jallow lasted for three days at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown.
The discussions resulted into an 8-resolution communique of October, 2023 which was read and understood by the two sides to the conflict.
The third resolution requires the two parties to set up a cross-party committee which comprises the ruling party, SLPP, APC and development partners to look into the alleged irregularities.
The election probe was carried by the committee with a sponsorship of $1.5m from the United States resulting into the afore-mentioned 80 recommendations set to be implemented ahead of 2028 election. But, SLPP’s recent stance may reverse gains made in the proposed overhaul of the electoral system.