The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will later on Thursday address journalists on the recent proposed electoral reforms announced by the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC).
The EC on Tuesday, May 18 after a two-day Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) Meeting said it is considering some 21 reforms including closing polls at 3:00pm instead of 5:00pm and tying the ballot boxes to tables to avoid snatching.
But the Meeting was without the NDC, which has since the December 7, 2020 elections boycotted activities of the Commission, adducing “lack of candour, odious duplicity, and open bias” as the party’s reasons.
This move has been described by the EC as unjustified.
Director of Training Michael Boadu told 3FM in an interview last month that the Commission operates an open-door policy and would welcome the NDC if it comes with its reforms.
“The EC has no problem with any party,” he insisted.
“The IPAC invitation was sent to all the parties; if we had deliberately left out the NDC, then there would have been a problem.”
The party has indeed hinted at capturing its electoral reforms proposal in a document ahead of the next general elections.
“Electoral reforms was a big issue that came up during the party retreat and we are going to table all the reforms we want to see and narrow it down in a paper we would produce for the benefit of the public and the EC as to what we say are the necessary changes we want to see,” senior member of the NDC Alex Segbefia told 3FM‘s Komla Adom in April.
But some parties including the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) say NDC’s absence at IPAC is a blessing in disguise.
A couple of days after the EC’s announcement, the NDC is set to address the press at its headquarters in Accra.
The topic will be: ‘Assessing the So-Called Achievements & Electoral Reform Proposals of the Electoral Commission’.
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