The Electoral Coomission has taken the decision not to supervise the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) until after the determination of the case by the court.
In her remarks at a meeting held today, May 10, 2023, with the Elections Committee of the NDC, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa said in order that the EC is not cited for contempt, it has resolved not to go ahead with supervising the Election.
"Earlier this week, the Commission received a letter from the Kwabena Duffuor Campaign Team alleging various errors and anomalies with the Register. It was based on this, that the Commission felt it necessary to meet with the Elections Committee of the NDC as well as the representatives of the Presidential Aspirants to deliberate on this matter and agree on a way forward.
"That meeting was to have been held today. However, yesterday we were served with an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to restrain the Commission from supervising the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries due to the alleged anomalies with the register," she stated.
Read below full remarks by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission
MEETING WITH THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS
REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION, MRS JEAN MENSA
A good afternoon to all of you.
On behalf of the Electoral Commission, I welcome you to the offices of the Commission this afternoon. As we are all aware we haven’t had the participation of the NDC at our IPAC meeting since 2021. We hope that your honoring our invitation to this meeting, will pave the way for the NDC to return to IPAC and be part of the important discussions that take place there.
We have called this meeting this afternoon to inform you about our decision on a matter that lies before us. As we are all aware the NDC invited the Electoral Commission to supervise the conduct of its Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries slated for Saturday 13th May 2023.
Several meetings have been held between the Commission and the Elections Committee of the NDC to discuss the modalities. A set of guidelines have been agreed upon with the Elections Committee of the NDC.
Key among the guidelines is the requirement that the Register to govern the election would be made available to the contesting Parties by the Elections Committee of the NDC at least seven (7) days before the conduct of the elections.
Earlier this week, the Commission received a letter from the Kwabena Duffuor Campaign Team alleging various errors and anomalies with the Register. It was based on this, that the Commission felt it necessary to meet with the Elections Committee of the NDC as well as the representatives of the Presidential Aspirants to deliberate on this matter and agree on a way forward.
That meeting was to have been held today. However, yesterday we were served with an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to restrain the Commission from supervising the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries due to the alleged anomalies with the register.
Gentlemen, in order that we are not cited for contempt, the Commission has taken the decision not to supervise the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections until after the determination of the case by the court. We thought we should bring this to your attention.
Therefore the meeting called to discuss the concerns of the Kwabena Duffuor Campaign Team has been cancelled.
Thank you.
Kwabena Duffuor's Case
NDC flagbearer aspirant, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor on Tuesday, May 9, filed an interlocutory injunction against the party’s presidential and parliamentary primaries.
The suit by Dr. Duffuor is to bar the NDC and the Electoral Commission from holding the primaries pending the production of a complete photo album register.
The former Finance Minister also wants the party to deliver the complete register to him at least five weeks ahead of the election.
According to the plaintiff, data from only 220 out of the 275 constituencies have been verified. An exceptional list of 74,799 he adds has been created which cannot also be verified because of scanty information.
For no credible reason, 3,910 eligible voters at the 220 constituencies have been disenfranchised,” Dr. Duffuor’s writ read in parts.
He further makes a point, the photo album put out by the electoral directorate of the NDC with the knowledge, consent, and tacit approval of the general secretary of the party would compromise the integrity of the election to his detriment.
“The Plaintiff maintains that the reluctance to extend the time for the internal elections and provide a complete and credible photo album register ahead of time to the presidential aspirants for verification smacks of a plan to create an undue advantage for manipulation of the presidential primaries”, the motion added.
Kwabena Duffuor had complained of some discrepancies in the party’s voter register and called on the National Executive of the party to postpone the upcoming primaries, but the party stated that the primaries will proceed accordingly.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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