Around 37 to 39 women including one female Paramount chief MP will make up 25 to 26% of the next 149 Members of Parliament (MPs) and of that about 60% of the women are predicted to be from the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) according to SierraPoll survey done by the Institute of Governance Reform (IGR).
This edition of SierraPoll combines survey data of 2,448 respondents of which 19 were unregistered voters and 2,428 were registered in across 16 districts to assess how political parties will perform in each district and project the electoral map of Sierra Leone for the 2023 elections.
The report also indicated that the Sierra Leone People’s Party is tipped to form a parliamentary majority in the range of 53% to 59%, while All People’s Congress (APC) will retain its place as the main opposition occupying around 37% to 46% of the seats with the National Grand Coalition (NGC) could obtain 0.7% to 1.5% of seats in the next parliament.
The survey also shows that at a seat-winning threshold of 11.9% it will be difficult for smaller parties and independents to win seats; thus the 2023 election is essentially a two-horse race between the ruling SLPP and main opposition APC.
“At least half (50-54%) of the former MPs will be retained; the lowest attrition rate recorded for parliament in four election cycles over the last 20 years. For local councils, the SLPP is projected to take 11 to 13 of the 22 councils, while APC is projected to take 9 to 11 councils,” according to the Report.