PPP Backs Afari-Djan�

The leadership of the Progressive People�s Party (PPP) has given its hundred percent backing to the Electoral Commission (EC) in proceeding with the organisation of the bye-elections at the Wulensi and Kwabre West constituencies.

According to the PPP, as a law abiding political party, it would support the constitutionally mandated decision of the EC, to organize the two bye-elections which organisation is being disputed by the NDC, NPP, PNC and the CPP.

PPP remarks that no party has the right to determine elections-be it national or bye-election in the country, except the Electoral Commission, adding that the political parties� law does not grant any party the status of Big, Giant, or Major and that all political parties are equal before the Electoral Commission and the voters; so long as they meet the requirements for the formation and continued operation as a political party under the law.

The party therefore cautioned the four parties not to arrogate to themselves that big brother status, but rather succumb to the rules and regulations that define the operations of political parties in the country.

It would be recalled that the EC in accordance with Article 112 of the constitution announced the dates for the two bye elections in Wulensi and Kwabre West following the deaths of two MPs; Alhaji Saani Iddi and Emmanuel Owusu Ansah respectively.

However, the New Patriotic Party was the first to challenge the legality of the EC�s decision to use the old voters� register for the two bye-elections. The party insisted that the EC used the new biometric voters� register.

The Director of Electoral Affairs of the NPP, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, contended that the old register was problematic as there were key issues that need to be addressed.

Later, the National Democratic Congress (NDC); the Convention People�s Party (CPP) and the People�s National Convention (PNC) all joined forces with the NPP and called for an emergency Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, hinting of an imminent boycott, if an amicable solution was not found to the impasse that they had created.

The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, particularly raised issues with the tenure of the MP who will be elected. He said parliament will soon rise and therefore would be waste of state resources, if the elections should go ahead.

But the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari Djan, said the Commission would not be stopped from carrying out its constitutional obligation of organising bye-elections in the Wulensi and Kwabre West constituencies.

Dr Afari Djan said the arguments being advanced by the parties were neither tenable nor meritorious and insisted the EC would go ahead with the bye-elections unless no candidate filed nominations to contest the elections.

The EC explained that due to the number of stages that the compilation of the biometric register had to go through, it would not be ready for use in the two bye-elections. Against this backdrop, the PPP, in a press release signed and issued by its Communications Director, Richmond Keelson, has warned the disenchanted parties to leave the EC alone.

�We wish to encourage the Electoral Commission (EC) to stick to the tenets of the 1992 Constitution of the 4th Republic and the stipulations of the Political Parties� law that require that bye-election be held when Parliament declares a seat vacant,� the party added.

The party urged all law-abiding citizens and political parties to end the speculative criticism of the Electoral Commission to exercise its right as an independent state institution created by the Constitution that governs the country.

�The Electoral Commission must not allow itself to be bullied by any political party. The residents of the Wulensi and the Kwabre West constituencies must not be deprived of representation in Parliament or disenfranchised in any way just for the convenience of some political parties.�

The party announced that it has filed its nomination to contest the Wulensi bye-election and indeed launched its campaign, �because we believe the EC is in the right track as far as the laws of the land go.�

The PPP�s parliamentary candidate for the Wulensi constituency, Issah Damba, has also indicated his preparedness to win the upcoming parliamentary bye-election in the constituency.

According to him, the party has put in place enough measures to guarantee the party victory in the July, 31st parliamentary by-election.

The 35-year-old father of three, Assemblyman and Circuit Supervisor of Education in Bimbilla, is the toast of the youth and the aged alike in the constituency who opine that he is the better of the available choices for the seat.

Residents and indigenes of Wulensi have blurted their frustrations with the empty and failed promises of the two political parties � the NPP and the NDC � and have expressed their willingness to vote for the PPP candidate.

The constituents have cited the poor nature of the road from Yendi to Wulensi, the poor electrification in the constituency as major draw backs in the constituency.

The party�s flagbearer, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, minced no words about the determination of his party to prioritise the construction of the Wulensi road just in the first year of his administration prior to the launch of the party�s Wulensi campaign.

Source: Today