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The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the
ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...
in Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. The SLPP dominated Sierra Leone's politics from its foundation in 1951 to 1967, when it lost the 1967 parliamentary election to the APC, led by
Siaka Stevens Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905 – 29 May 1988) was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was often characterized by patrimonial ...
. Originally a
centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
,
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
party, it identifies since 2012 as a
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
party, with a centrist tendency. The SLPP returned to power when its leader Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won the 1996 presidential election. The party was in power from 1996 to 2007, when it again lost to the APC, led by Ernest Bai Koroma, in the 2007 presidential election. SLPP returned to power on 4 April 2018 when
Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...
was sworn in as the new President of Sierra Leone after winning the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential election. SLPP is overwhelmingly popular in Mende areas in south and eastern Sierra Leone (except in Kono District, a swing district), where the party regularly wins presidential, parliamentary and local elections by large margins. The SLPP has large minority support in the
Western Area The Western Area or Freetown Peninsula (formerly the Colony of Sierra Leone) is one of five principal divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises the oldest city and national capital Freetown and its surrounding towns and countryside. It covers an ...
(including
Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
). The SLPP also has large minority support in Koinadugu District and Falaba District in the north of the country. The SLPP also has significant minority support in Kambia District in the north of the country.


Early success and Independence

SLPP dominated politics in
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
in the years following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1955 and 1956, riots occurred in Sierra Leone, originally sparked by the artisan union's strike over pay; further unrest followed strikes by transport workers. These events grew animosity between the SLPP and Krio parties, especially the Cyril Rogers-Wright led United Sierra Leone Progressive Party, established in 1954. The SLPP positioned itself as "the countryman's party," and garnered the support of tribal chiefs. In recent times however, the SLPP has been widely perceived as "the Mende man's party". After elections in 1957,
Milton Margai Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai (7 December 1895 – 28 April 1964) was a Sierra Leonean physician and politician who served as the country's head of government from 1954 until his death in 1964. He was titled chief minister from 1954 to 196 ...
bowed to behind-the-scenes pressure and stepped down from SLPP leadership, replaced by his brother Albert Margai. However, in 1958, Albert Margai and
Siaka Stevens Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905 – 29 May 1988) was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was often characterized by patrimonial ...
launched a new party, the
People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) (PNP; ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by Norman Manley, Norman Washington Manley who served as party president unti ...
(PNP), which aimed for greater African involvement in the British colonial government. With the independence of
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
in 1957, the PNP sought the support of the educated elite to lead a transition to independence. Stevens would later leave the party to form the northern-supported All Peoples Congress. Upon independence in 1961,
Milton Margai Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai (7 December 1895 – 28 April 1964) was a Sierra Leonean physician and politician who served as the country's head of government from 1954 until his death in 1964. He was titled chief minister from 1954 to 196 ...
became
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, and the SLPP became the ruling party. The SLPP, along with almost all Sierra Leonean political parties, signed the constitution at the London constitutional conference; the APC was the notable exception. This unity did not extend to national politics, as opposing politicians often faced detainment under SLPP rule.


Demise

Sir Milton Margai's death in 1964 left SLPP leadership to his brother Sir Albert Margai. Albert's rule was characterized by dissent. Politically, he attempted to strengthen the position of SLPP elites relative to the chiefs, who had formed the backbone of the party. Albert's autocratic leadership style was questioned within his party, sparked by actions such as the demotion of senior party members Alhaji M.S. Mustapha and Kerefa Smart. Albert also embarked on a policy of Africanisation, which removed some civil servants who favored a colonialistic approach. Margai may have adopted this strategy in an effort to replace the Creole civil administrators with unqualified members of his Mende tribe. Sir Albert Margai took power and sought to make the army homogeneously Mende. He also endeavoured to change Sierra Leone from a democracy to a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
.End of The Exception
''Time'', 31 March 1967
Scores of schools were built in the provinces along with Teachers Colleges in every district (Makeni, Magburaka, Moyamba, and the Milton Margai Teachers College). Opposing leaders criticized Margai's presentation of a bill to establish a one-party system in Sierra Leone and also blamed Margai for developments had led to an economic slowdown. In the 1967 elections, the APC and SLPP each won 32 seats in parliament, with 2 former SLPP Independents siding with the APC MPs Kutubu Kai-Samba and Luseni A. M Brewah. This development confirmed that the SLPP would no longer lead the country. The subsequent political unrest led to the declaration of martial law and a military coup that took full control of the national government. The
National Reformation Council The National Reformation Council, or NRC, was a group of senior military officers with Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith as its chairman, who seized control of the Sierra Leone Government of Sierra Leone, government on March 23, 1967. They suspended the ...
(NRC), led by Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith, was established on 23 March 1967. Pressure from political elites, trade unions, and university students led to the junta's collapse in November 1970, and Siaka Stevens of the APC became president after the interregnum. Under Stevens, Sierra Leone became a one-party state. In 1978 all SLPP MPs except one (Manna Kpaka, MP in Kenema) joined the APC. The SLPP was outlawed, and its elites and supporters were physically threatened and barred from holding meetings.


Rebirth

In 1996 SLPP returned to prominence, as its candidate Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won the presidential election, receiving 59.5% of the popular vote in a second round against John Karefa-Smart of the United National People's Party (UNPP). In the
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
held on 14 May 2002, the party won 69.9% of the popular vote and 83 out of 112 seats in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
, and its candidate in the presidential election, Kabbah, won 70.1% of the vote and was re-elected. At the SLPP's national convention in Makeni on 3–4 September 2005, Vice-President Solomon Berewa was selected by the SLPP as its leader and 2007 presidential candidate. He received 291 votes, while Charles Margai received 34,
Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...
received 33, and J. B. Dauda received 28. In the August 2007 election, the SLPP was defeated by the APC in the parliamentary election, winning 43 seats against 59 for the APC; the PMDC, a splinter party founded by Charles Margai, attracted the support of some traditional SLPP voters, winning 10 seats. In the presidential election, the SLPP candidate, Berewa, took second place in the first round, winning 38.3% of the vote against 44.3% for the APC candidate, Ernest Bai Koroma. A second round of the presidential election was held in September; Koroma prevailed with 54.6% of the vote against 45.4% for Berewa. The SLPP constitution requires its leader to resign if the party loses a national election; Berewa resigned as party leader on 17 October 2007, leaving Alhaji Sulaiman Jah as acting leader. In 2011,
Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...
became SLPP's nominee for the 2012 presidential election. He beat Usman Boie Kamara, who came in second place. Bio was nominated as the SLPP candidate for president in the 2018 election, which he ultimately won.


Julius Maada Bio presidency (2018–present)

In 2018, Sierra Leone held a general election. The presidential election, in which neither candidate reached the required threshold of 55%, went to a second round of voting, in which
Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...
was elected with 51% of the vote against the candidate of then-ruling All People’s Congress (APC). On 4 April 2018, opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), was sworn in as Sierra Leone’s new president.


Electoral history


Presidential elections


Parliamentary elections


References


External links

* {{Sierra Leonean political parties 1951 establishments in Sierra Leone Centrist parties in Africa Formerly banned political parties Nationalist parties in Africa Political parties established in 1951 Political parties in Sierra Leone Socialism in Sierra Leone