Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

The conference Post-Election Nation Building: The Role of Political Parties and Civil Society provided the first and only platform where Sierra Leonean political parties and civil society groups could air their views on the August elections which have been won by opposition leader Koroma of the All People’s Congress. The meetings were meant to achieve compromise, re-build the bridges of trust and co-operation and attempt to calm down political tensions.

Some 50 participants took part in the meetings, including various Ministers, members of political parties, MPs, representatives of civil society organizations, as well as the diplomatic corps and international organizations.
Seasoned politicians from Ghana and Sierra Leone who had the experience of being in and out of Government shared their experiences with the audience.

Consensus was reached on various issues and captured in a joint communiqué:

1. Transitional arrangements: It was agreed that the absence of established statutory arrangements on the transfer of power from one government to another posed administrative and legal challenges, particularly with the transfer of power from the out-gone Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) to the All People’s Congress (APC). There was a consensus that a procedure should be put in place whereby serving ministers and government officials could hand over efficiently to incoming governments.

2. Government opposition relations: It was agreed that the past adversarial relationship between government and opposition should pave way to constructive engagement and cooperation in the interest of peace, reconciliation and the development of Sierra Leone.

3. Post-Election confidence building and reconciliation: Participants were of the view that the communing of representatives of political parties at the conference was timely and highly beneficial and had indeed helped to reduce tensions among the Political Parties.

4. Consensus-Building in a democracy: Opposition parties, youth, women and civil society organizations and the media were seen as stakeholders in Sierra Leone’s multiparty system and as such they should be involved in the national process to move peace, reconciliation and development of Sierra Leone forward.

Participants recommended that a follow-up conference should be targeted at parliamentarians, Ministers, civil society groups, the media, youth and women groups to help re-build the bridges of trust and co-operation and calm down political tensions and ultimately deepen and consolidate multiparty democracy in Sierra Leone. There was also a cry for immediate structuring of transitional arrangements to aid in subsequent transfer of power from one government to another.
 
 
More information
 
The October conference in October was the initiative of the leaders of political parties in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Following a number of meetings in 2006, they established a Permanent Consultative Conference of Chairpersons (PCCC). Participants included the former opposition leader Mr Koroma, now President of Sierra Leone.

The objectives of this platform are to exchange ideas about values and principles of democracy among party chairpersons and politicians in Ghana and Sierra Leone and to encourage mutual trust and bring the collective experiences of party chairpersons to bear on the building of democracy, peace and stability in their respective countries

The conference in Freetown was hosted by the Ghanaian Institute of Economic Affairs, under the auspices of NIMD’s West African Regional Programme for Political Parties (WARPPP).