By Sulaiman Jalloh
Prince Charles Raymond Coker, the Chairman of All Political Parties’ Association (APPA), on Tuesday, 10th September, 2024, expressed hope of possible representation of other political parties in the next Parliament of Sierra Leone following the conduct of the 2028 general elections. He expressed crucial issues that surround his chairmanship and APPA.
The APPA chairman was speaking as a guest at the government’s weekly press briefing organize by the Ministry of Information and Civic education in Freetown on Tuesday, 10th September, 2024.
As the parent body for political parties, Mr Coker’s statement is based on the fact that the present composition of the country’s supreme legislative body is only made up of two political parties: the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party and the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), and Paramount Chiefs.
He attributed the non-representation of other political parties to the Proportional Representation System, adding that the threshold set to win a seat in Parliament was hard to meet by political parties with less support base, something he promised that will be addressed before the country’s next general election.
Chairman Prince Charles Raymond Coker expressed noted that other political parties should not be referred to as smaller parties, saying all of them are registered the same way and that they pay the same candidature fees. “We are not small,” he said, while recalling that there was a time in the political trends of Sierra Leone when the now main opposition [the APC] was not considered a major political parties. He expressed hope of change in the popularity of political parties despite people’s consistent voting patterns for the APC and SLPP devoid of whatsoever.
He projected what he called “a big surprise” in the forthcoming general elections, envisioning a vibrant resurrection of the other political parties considered to be smaller.
Mr. Coker condemned the sentiment statements by some set of people who had categorized him to be a supporter of the ruling SLPP and that the party had bought him. He said such claims are not true.
Speaking on the mandate of the association, Chairman Coker said, APPA as a body, was not established to oppose government but to promote peace amongst political parties. He added that APPA does critiquing government constructively through solution-driven engagements.
Referencing the recently resolved political impasse in the country, he said the other parties considered to be smaller, played a major role in mitigating the situation. As a former presidential aspirant, he said some of them had a good number of supporters, saying that had they all joined the political impasse, the issues would have been compounded.
