Members of Parliament in Sierra Leone have approved a contested overhaul of the country’s electoral rules, altering the requirements for winning the presidency and the structure of political representation.
The new legislation lowers the presidential victory threshold, which changes the minimum percentage of votes required for a candidate to be declared the winner without a runoff.
Beyond the presidential requirements, the approved law introduces proportional representation and establishes a mandatory gender quota, reserving 30 percent of political leadership positions for women.
The move comes amid contention over the changes, though the parliamentary approval secures the transition to these new rules. The shift toward proportional representation is expected to alter how seats are distributed among political parties based on their share of the total vote.
The law’s provision for women’s leadership is a direct attempt to increase female participation in the country’s high-level political decision-making processes.
Further details on the implementation timeline and the specific new percentage for the presidential victory threshold have not been detailed in the current approval report.
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