| Country: | Sierra Leone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Election Date: | 24 June 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Election: | 2018 Sierra Leonean general election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Year: | 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next Year: | 2028 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 24 June 2023 to elect the president and members of Parliament.[1] [2] Incumbent president Julius Maada Bio was re-elected with 56% of the vote and the Sierra Leone People's Party won 81 seats in Parliament compared to the main opposition party, the All People's Congress, which won 54 seats. The result was contested by the All People's Congress, which demanded a rerun, citing "glaring irregularities". European election observers stated that there were "statistical inconsistencies" in the presidential results published, with the European Union Election Observation Mission saying that the electoral commission should "publish disaggregated results data per polling station to allow for public scrutiny of the results." Unless that happened, it said that transparency was compromised. The Carter Center echoed these sentiments, as did the United States, Britain, Ireland, Germany, France and the European Union.
The President of Sierra Leone is elected using a modified version of the two-round system, with a candidate having to receive more than 55% of the vote in the first round to be elected. If this is not done, a second round must be held two weeks after the announcement of the first-round result.
Members of Parliament were elected in 16 multi-member constituencies (of between four and sixteen seats) coterminous with the Districts of Sierra Leone by proportional representation via the largest remainder method (with the Hare quota),[3] [4] after a presidential decree by Julius Maada Bio in October 2022 abolished the first-past-the-post system that had been used since 2008.[5] Independent candidates are eligible to run and win seats if they exceed the quota required for one in a constituency. A total of 14 additional seats (one per district, excluding the two districts of the Western Area) are not elected, and are reserved for paramount chiefs.
The Supreme Court of Sierra Leone ruled that the decree changing the electoral system was constitutional in a case brought by opposition MP Abdul Kargbo and local councillor Hakiratu Maxwell-Caulker.[6]
| District | Elected Seats | Paramount Chiefs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bo | 12 | 1 | |
| Bombali | 8 | 1 | |
| Bonthe | 5 | 1 | |
| Falaba | 4 | 1 | |
| Kailahun | 10 | 1 | |
| Kambia | 6 | 1 | |
| Karene | 5 | 1 | |
| Kenema | 12 | 1 | |
| Koinadugu | 4 | 1 | |
| Kono | 10 | 1 | |
| Moyamba | 6 | 1 | |
| Port Loko | 10 | 1 | |
| Pujehun | 7 | 1 | |
| Tonkolili | 10 | 1 | |
| Western Rural | 10 | 0 | |
| Western Urban | 16 | 0 | |
| Subtotal | 135 | 14 | |
| Total | 149 | ||
Incumbent president Julius Maada Bio was re-elected with 56% of the vote, a result which was contested by the main opposition party, the All People's Congress, which demanded a rerun, citing "glaring irregularities".[7]
The Sierra Leone People's Party won 81 seats in Parliament while the All People's Congress won 54 seats. The Sierra Leone People's Party did much better in the Kono District than it did in the previous election, winning seven of ten seats in this election after winning none in the district in the last election. It also made gains in northern and western Sierra Leone.[8]
European election observers stated that there were "statistical inconsistencies" in the presidential results published, with the European Union Election Observation Mission calling for the electoral commission to "publish disaggregated results data per polling station to allow for public scrutiny of the results," without which it said transparency was compromised. It said that there were discrepancies between the first and second batches of presidential results.[9] The Carter Center echoed these sentiments, as did the United States, Britain, Ireland, Germany, France and the European Union.[9] [10] Sierra Leone's chief electoral commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, said that it would take time to upload the disaggregated results to the internet.[9]
The election itself was conducted largely peacefully according to observers from the Commonwealth of Nations,[11] although one female nurse was killed at the headquarters of the All People's Congress after government forces fired shots and tear gas as voters awaited the announcement of the results. Other unconfirmed reports stated that others were also hurt or killed in the north of the country.[12]