A fight broke out on the floor of Sierra Leone’s parliament Wednesday as parliamentarians debated a proposed change to the electoral system to allow for proportional representation in the forthcoming election.
The representatives from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party were seen in a viral video throwing chairs and punches at each other.
A large ornamental vase was also tossed back and forth in the chamber over a recommended switch to a proportional representation system for the June 2023 presidential election.
While the government is in favour of the plan, the opposition kicked against it as unconstitutional because it came out without parliamentary approval.
Following the fight, which broke out around 1100 GMT, some MPs were thrown out of the chamber by the police.
President Julius Bio, who was first elected in 2018 will square up with the candidate of the opposition to contest a second term in office.
Last week, MPs passed legislation to introduce a gender quota in all elected and appointed positions ahead of next year’s election, which had been a major campaign promise by the president in 2018.