PPP threatens court action against EC over electoral reforms
The Progressive Peoples’ Party (PPP) has threatened to go to court to seek an injunction on the ten-member committee set up by the Electoral Commission (EC) to oversee electoral reforms in the country.
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According to the PPP, their exclusion from the committee was unjustified and discriminatory.
The EC on Friday inaugurated a 10-member committee to examine all proposals it has received for changes in the country’s electoral process.
Members of the committee include Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); Mr Peter Mac Manu, a former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); Mr James Kwabena Bomfeh, the Director of Elections of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Mr Anin-Kofi Addo, the founder and Chairman of the Yes People’s Party.
Other members are: Mrs Rebecca Kabukie Adjalo and Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, both from the EC; Mr Kwesi Jonah, a Senior Research Fellow at Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG); Dr Ransford Gyampoh, a Research Fellow at Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr Franklin Oduro, the Head of Research and Programmes at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and Mrs Georgina Opoku Amankwah, a Deputy Chairperson of the EC.
But in an interview on Citi FM Monday, the National Secretary of the PPP, Kofi Asamoah-Siaw said they have been treated unfairly by the EC.
He noted, “Why would you want to give two parties two slots and you’ll want to give other 22 parties two slots. I think it’s not fair so we’ll try our chances there [court]…frankly, I think that we should test the law on this exercise of independent rights that the Electoral Commission always brings forth.”
Meanwhile, a statement signed by Mr Asamoah-Siaw and copied to Graphiconline also noted that it would not be practical for all minority parties to meet to select the two representatives since there was no such forum to allow such a meeting.
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It said, “We have made attempts to meet all the parties but the deadline is too short to make that meeting possible. We are also unable to contact the secretariats of some of the parties registered by the Commission.”
The PPP is therefore, proposing that such an exercise be tabled at the next IP AC meeting where all the political parties would be present to deliberate on the modalities for selection of the two representatives for the Committee.