Politician and former minister Sylvia Blyden has argued that elected Members of Parliament from the All People’s Congress (APC) cannot be replaced using candidates from other political parties, warning that such a move would be unconstitutional.
In a detailed response to comments by senior APC figure Alpha Kanu, Blyden said attempts to rely on what she described as a legal gap in Section 38A of the amended Constitution could lead to a serious constitutional problem.
She said Sierra Leone’s electoral history shows that parliamentary seats are tied to the mandate given by voters, noting that during the 2002 elections all parliamentary candidates were required to pay a refundable deposit before contesting, a principle she said reinforces the idea that candidates earn their seats through the electoral process.
Although the deposit law was repealed in 2012, Blyden said the underlying concept remains that elected representatives cannot simply be replaced through administrative decisions or political arrangements.
According to her, replacing APC MPs with names from the list of another party, including the National Grand Coalition (NGC), would amount to what she described as a constitutional travesty.
She warned that such a step could undermine democratic principles and the will of the electorate, stressing that any dispute over parliamentary representation should be handled strictly within the law.
