Chamber:
	Parliament
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	26 February 1996 27 February 1996
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for 68 seats of the new House of Representatives provided for in the 1991 Constitution. General elections had last been held in May 1986.
Background and outcome of elections:
	In May 1992, after its term had been extended by one year, the 127-member House of Representatives was dissolved in the wake of the military coup d'Etat of the previous month. The election date - for President of the Republic and Parliament - was set on 5 December 1995. The following month, the Head of State, Capt. Valentine Strasser, was ousted in another coup, and Brigadier-General Julius Bio ascended to power at the head of a National Provisional Ruling Council. He vowed to hold the elections as scheduled and called on the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which had waged civil war in the country since 1991, to participate in peace negotiations. The RUF, for its part, opposed polling prior to a peace accord with the Government. Altogether 13 parties contested the 68 parliamentary seats at stake. Prominent among them was the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), the country's oldest political organisation which had ruled from independence in 1961 to 1967; and the All People's Congress (APC), in power from 1968 to 1992. The two leading presidential candidates among the 12 in contention were Mr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP and Mr. John Karifa-Smart of the United National People's Party (UNPP), both former officials in the United Nations system. Polling was extended by one day due to election-related violence that resulted in a number of deaths. Procedures were monitored by some 130 international observers, including a Commonwealth team; they deemed the voting to have been generally free and conducted in a "transparent manner". In the legislative races, the SLPP emerged as the victor but fell short of an absolute majority; this could nevertheless be attained with the 24 seats captured by its four allies. The presidential contest required a runoff on 15 March, which was won by Mr. Kabbah. The overall outcome brought an end to the country's 19 years of one-party or military rule. On 29 March, the military relinquished power and President Kabbah was sworn in. He promptly pledged to break with the country's past, patch up the woeful economy, end the wave of violence and corruption, and seek a swift end to the conflict with the RUF. Parliament convened on 2 April and approved the composition of the Cabinet in May.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (26 - 27 February 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	1,500,000 (approx)
Voters	750,858 (50.06%)

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP)	269,888	35.94
United National People's Party (UNPP)	165,219	22
People's Democratic Party (PDP)	114,429	15.24
All People's Congress (APC)	42,467	5.66
National Unity Party (NUP)	39,285	5.23
Democratic Centre Party (DCP)	35,632	4.75
Others	79,282	10.55

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP)	27
United National People's Party (UNPP)	17
People's Democratic Party (PDP)	12
All People's Congress (APC)	5
National Unity Party (NUP)	4
Democratic Centre Party (DCP)	3
Others	0

Comments:
	This figures refer to the directly elected members

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	75
Women:	5