NEW Concludes Two-Day National CSO Dialogue on the Preferred Electoral System for Sierra Leone.

National Election Watch (NEW) today, Thursday 12th June 2025, concluded the two-day National CSO Dialogue on the Preferred Electoral System for Sierra Leone at the Bank Complex in Kingtom, Freetown. The dialogue, which started yesterday, brought together 80 Civil Society leaders from across the country, and technical experts on electoral and democratic systems to discuss the different electoral systems and make recommendations on their preferred electoral system for Sierra Leone.

The outcome of the dialogue in the form of recommendations/CSO Position will be presented to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice’s Office to feed into the ongoing electoral legal reforms, which he is leading. Additionally, NEW will present the CSO position paper from this dialogue to the National Dialogue, which the Attorney General’s Office will be organizing in Freetown in due course.

The dialogue is a response to the Tripartite Committee Recommendation 78, which calls for a National Dialogue on the choice of electoral system to be adopted in Sierra Leone.

The formal opening of the dialogue was attended by development, international, and diplomatic partners, political party leaders, Strategic Committee Members of NEW, government MDAs, and the media.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Alphaa Sesay, gave the keynote message. Mr. Sesay assured the participants that the government did not intend to impose an electoral system on the people. He challenged civil society to take the conversation beyond the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and All People’s Congress (APC) and choose an electoral system that works for the people of this country.

“NEW remains committed to supporting the implementation of the Tripartite Committee recommendation,” NEW Chairperson, Mrs. Marcella Samba Sesay, said.

This effort is supported by International IDEA with funds from the European Union in Sierra Leone.