By Ragan M. Conteh
In accordance with article 82 of the new constitution, a 25-man Transitional Interim Independent Elections Management Committee (TIIEMC) will soon be set up within the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC). TIIEMC, under the new constitution, should conduct and oversee the first set of elections within the Party ranging from Ward to national officers.
None of the 25-man committee shall be eligible to contest for any post during the elections. He  reminded APC members that the Party was still under an injunction of the high court and that dates for holding elections and conventions is dependent on the judgement.
He called on the Court to expedite APC’s matter since the new constitution is now effective and time for national elections is fastly approaching.
He promised that the Party will soon announce a date for the formal presentation of the new constitution to its general membership. The new constitution meets one of PPRC’s key criteria which require that every political party put in place a new constitution.
Speaking during an emergency press conference at the headquaters in Freetown, APC Secretary-General, Osman Yansaneh said last Friday marked an important day in the party’s history.
“The party is transitioning into a new legal regime as the 1995 Constitution of the Party has been repealed and replaced by a New Constitution adopted on the 19th of September 2021,” the APC scribe recounted.
Yansaneh said the Constitution was a result of effort that started back in 2002 and more recently based on the recommendation of the 9 -Man Committee set up after the 2018 Presidential Elections.
He informed APC members that by virtue of the provisions of Article 82 (b) of the new constitution, all officers of the party should remain in their posts until elections are held.