The death is announced of Mr Third Force. The incident took place at the headquarters of the National Electoral Commission at OAU Drive where Mr Third Force was locked in a determined battle for supremacy with Mr Void votes whom the NEC Chief was very determined to banish from her kingdom.
Unfortunately or rather sorrowfully Mr Void delivered a sharp uppercut to the chin of Mr Third force, which lifted him several feet into the air causing him to land heavily on his rear end, shattering his spinal cord and crippling him for life.
Despite all attempts to cheer up Mr Third force, he became so disappointed with his handicap and passed away peacefully in his sleep.
He was declared dead by the NEC Chief at exactly 6.30pm Friday, 23rd November 2012. He will be sadly missed by his grand parentsthe UNPP,PDP, NUP, DCP, PLP and his great uncle the PMDC.
Funeral arrangements will take place at a date to be announced, at parliament building. Sympathisers should call at the NEC headquarters where a book of condolence will be officially dedicated to such a sweet and faithful servant.
However only tributes from the APC and the SLPP will be entertained as they have, more than anyone else contributed generously to the cost of the funeral arrangements.
Analysis
Of all the nine candidates who contested the just ended presidential elections, only two (APC & SLPP) were able to draw up substantial votes to make them the two most relevant parties in the 2012 elections.
Of the remaining 7 candidates only two Charles Margai (1.3%) and Joshua Carew (1%) scored 1% and above.
The 7 candidates all put together polled 4% of all votes counted and cast so far.This is point seven (0.7%) below the total number of void votes.
Since 1996, with the start of the third republic, along with the 2002 and 2007 elections, therehas always been the emergence of one or morepolitical party, which was claiming to be the third force and an alternative to the two leading parties (i.e APC and SLPP).
In 1996 some 6 parties (SLPP – 35%, UNPP 22%, PDP 15.24%, APC 5.66%, NUP 5.23% and DCP 4.75%) reached the 5% threshold in the proportional representation system, and thus secured seats in the then 80-memberparliament.
2002 saw the popular rise of former AFRC Junta leader Johnny Paul Koroma and his newly formed People’s Liberation Party (PLP). In that election the SLPP had 69.9% APC 19.8 %and PLP 3.6%. By then 4 parties (UNPP, PDP, NUP and DCP) had seen their fortunes wane and could not make it to parliament. The new boy on the block PLP- secured two seats and thus assumed the position of the third force or alternative to the APC and SLPP. However like those before the PLP, it also served in parliament for five years, and since then has not been able to get in again.
It seemed then that a familiar pattern in the 3rd republic parliament was for a new party to emerge and claim the third spot in every succeeding election. This was after in 2007 the PMDC secured 8 seats and assumed the position of the 3rd force, being the third party in a three party parliament.
Sadly the PMDC has followed in the footsteps of the PLP and has failed to secure any seat in the 2012 parliament, leaving a two party (APC and SLPP) dominant parliament.
More than ever before this 2012 elections has demonstrated that like in the UK and America which are the two democracies which have informed Sierra Leone’s democratic experiment, there are only two dominant parties (APC and SLPP) which will always be exchanging the mantle of governance.
There is no gainsaying that even though another party may rise in the 2017 election, there is scant possibility that other than the APC and SLPP, any other party will take over governance in this country.
However the emergence of the void vote beating all the lesser candidates when put together shows that at least in the 2012 parliament, there will be no third party or any third force.
Several political analysts have agreed that the dominance shown in the 2012 elections by the two main parties (APC and SLPP) might well be the final nail in the coffin for any 3rd force party. This means that those who have any serious political inclinations may seek to join either of the two parties since they now show the only realistic possibility of taking over governance in Sierra Leone.
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