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Transition Without Rupture: Sierra Leone's Transfer Election of 1996

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Jimmy D. Kandeh
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Abstract:

Sierra Leone's transfer election of 1996 was instigated by a resurgent civil society that came alive after thirty years of dictatorship. This electoral democratic renewal did not, however, alter the spoils logic that has defined the organization and exercise of political power in Sierra Leone since the late 1960s. Because performance by a popularly elected government is critical to the consolidation of public support for democracy, the SLPP's inability to distance itself from its discredited precursors endangered the country's fragile democracy.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Les élections de 1996 en Sierra Leone étaient le fait de l'éveil d'une société civile ressuscitée après trente années de dictature. Ce renouveau de l'élection démocratique n'a cependant pas altéré le système de distribution de sièges caractéristique de l'organisation et de l'exercice du pouvoir en Sierra Leone depuis la fin des années 60. Au lieu de se distancer des anciens régimes dictateurs, le nouveau gouvernement a amnistié des politiciens fripons, nommé des notables discrédités à des postes ministériels, et s'est montré incapable de résoudre le problème endémique de corruption. Sous le président Ahmad Tejan Kabba, le SLPP est resté un parti de patronage uni par la logique de pillage au service de l'élite. Vue l'importance du rôle que joue la performance d'un gouvernement élu au suffrage universel dans la consolidation du support populaire pour la démocratie, l'incapacité du SLPP de prendre ses distances vis-à-vis de ses devanciers discrédités a mis en danger la fragile démocratie du pays. Bref, la démocratie ne peut pas se developper en Sierra Leone en l'absence d'un effort consciencieux de la part de l'élite au pouvoir pour éradiquer les anciennes pratiques institutionnelles.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , September 1998 , pp. 91 - 112
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1998

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