SLPP Flag Bearer Contest: Towards Fairness, Transparency and “Sobernessâ€
Party stalwarts and detractors were all eyeing the just concluded SLPP convention in Bo where constitutional disagreements were ironed out. Other than the unfortunate fisticuffs between journalists and SLPP security, the convention was a success. It seems all parties were satisfied with the outcome. Be that as it may, the purpose of this article is to point out a possible agreement if not rectified could possibly lead to turmoil. What baffles me about this agreement is whether it was an honest mistake or a deliberate omission. Let me draw your attention to the draft resolution passed by the SLPP convention that has raised a red flag of fairness and transparency. The resolution passed at the SLPP convention among other things stipulated that the SLPP NEC should craft rules and regulations governing the conduct of the flag bearer competition. In my humble opinion this screams of conflict of interest, lack of fairness and lack of transparency.
SLPP should be careful not to repeat the mistakes of Makeni next time around. In Makeni, one of the contenders for flag bearer was sitting right on the podium where the voting was taking place while the other contestants were not accorded the privilege. In addition, the rules of engagement were presided over by one of the contestants. It is in light of this that the SLPP must rethink allowing the NEC members to dictate the rules and regulations governing the election of the flag bearer. Therefore, with the exception of Chairman John Benjamin, all SLPP NEC members must excuse themselves from working on the rules and regulations governing the contest. The reason for this call is simple. All SLPP NEC members with the exception of the Chairman are eligible to contest for the flag bearer position. As a result, they should not be the ones determining the rules except all other flag bearers are involved in that exercise. Since non-NEC  flag bearers are not included in the formation of the rules, then in the interest of fairness and transparency, all NEC members should not be allowed to participate in the crafting the rules of engagement. Chairman Benjamin and other stake holders must come together and suggest other members outside NEC to participate. SLPP has credible members like Peter Tucker and the chairman of the reconciliation committee Humphrey Swaray who can serve without any suspicion of partiality on their part. SLPP must not allow such oversight to cloud the fairness persona for which they have so painstakingly fought. Failure to do this may result in the party allowing losers to cry foul and who would blame them?
On the issue of “sobernessâ€, the SLPP flag bearer contest is frankly becoming a joke by the day. People who cannot even win parliamentary elections in their own districts are now coming out of the wood works to be the flag bearer. Some of these contestants are engaged in shameless posturing with the aim of striking a deal with who ever the flag bearer is. Honestly, there are only about seven of the twenty-two aspirants who can seriously talk about having a chance. SLPP must therefore find a way to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sources close to SLPP NEC suggest that they intend to ask aspirants to cough up twenty million Leones. In my opinion that is a pittance for such a high stakes position. The SLPP NEC must seriously consider asking for at least $25,000 from each aspirant who wants to contest for the flag bearer.  If an aspiring flag bearer cannot get 25,000 Sierra Leoneans to contribute four thousand Leones to his campaign, then that person does not deserve to be SLPP’s flag bearer. If and when that stipulation is put in place, it will be clear then who the serious contenders are. For now it is slowly becoming a circus and the SLPP should not be surprised if APC sponsors an additional five contestants just to throw a wrench in the process. The APC would think twice to do so if the cost of contesting his as high as $25,000. Running for president is no child’s play, the contestant must show his or her propensity to raise funds and $25,000 is a good starting point. This is the only way SLPP can separate the sober contestants from the bluffer contestants.
By Abdulai Samura
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