By: Mohamed J. Bangura
Attorney General and Minister of Justice Alpha Sesay called for a voter-centred approach to candidate selection under Sierra Leone’s proposed Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, arguing that political parties should not have unchecked authority over who represents citizens in Parliament.
Speaking during an interview with Liberty Online TV on Monday, 10 August 2026, Minister Sesay said the introduction of a PR system must be accompanied by transparent and democratic processes within political parties to ensure that party members and voters have a meaningful role in selecting parliamentary candidates.
He explained that a PR system should not simply allow political parties to prepare candidate lists without sufficient participation from their members and the electorate.
“In a PR system, voters can also determine who their representatives should be,” Sesay said.
The Attorney General stated that Parliament should require political parties to adopt clear and democratic procedures for selecting candidates ahead of parliamentary elections.
He outlined three key measures that should guide the process: transparent party primaries, democratic nomination procedures and meaningful participation of party members in choosing candidates.
According to Sesay, these safeguards would help prevent situations where candidates are imposed on voters through closed or non-transparent nomination processes.
He further explained that, depending on the structure adopted for the PR system, voters could have the opportunity to influence which candidates from a political party’s list eventually secure seats in Parliament.
“Parliament should make it mandatory for political parties to ensure transparent party primaries, democratic nomination processes and participation of party members in selecting candidates,” he stated.
Sesay stressed that the national conversation on Proportional Representation should go beyond discussions about how parliamentary seats would be allocated. He said equal attention must be given to the candidate selection process and the level of influence voters would have in determining their representatives.
His comments come amid ongoing public and political discussions surrounding the proposed constitutional and electoral reforms contained in the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The proposed shift from the First-Past-the-Post electoral system to Proportional Representation has generated widespread debate. Supporters argue that PR could encourage broader and more inclusive representation in Parliament, while critics have expressed concerns about candidate selection, voter influence and the accountability of elected representatives.
Sesay’s position seeks to address concerns that a PR system could reduce voters’ ability to influence the individuals who represent them.
He maintained that the design of the electoral system must keep voters at the centre of the democratic process while ensuring that political parties operate with greater transparency and internal accountability.
“Voters get to determine who gets on a party’s list of candidates in a PR system,” he said, urging Sierra Leoneans to seek accurate information about the proposed reforms.
The Attorney General encouraged citizens to study the details and implications of the proposed PR system rather than relying on assumptions about how it would function. “Know the facts,” Sesay said.