A constitutional referendum was held 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 ...

on 12 July 1978. The constitutional amendments were aimed at turning the country into a presidential

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 ...

, with the

All People's Congress The All People's Congress (APC) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other being its main political rival the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The APC has been the main opposition party in Sierra Leone since 4 Ap ...

as the sole legal party. The new constitution had been adopted by

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in May, and was put to public approval in the referendum. With more than 97% of voters voting in favour according to official results, the referendum has been described as "heavily rigged". APC leader and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

had pushed for the adoption of one-party rule, contending that it was more " African" than Western-style democracy.

Results

Aftermath

Following the referendum, Stevens was sworn in for another seven-year term. In the next presidential elections in 1985, voters had the choice of supporting or opposing his successor, Joseph Saidu Momoh, with no opposition candidates allowed. The 15

Sierra Leone People's Party 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 in Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. The SLPP d ...

MPs elected in 1977 joined the APC. The country would remain a one-party state until 1991, when a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

repealed the 1978 constitutionArticle 19
The Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991
/ref> and returned the country to multi-party politics.

References

{{Sierra Leonean elections

Referendums in Sierra Leone

Constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

Constitutional referendums