Check your body language – Kweku Baako advises the Deputy Commissioner of Elections

General News of Saturday, March 30, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-03-30

Election Commissioner Bossman Asare was urged to be cautious in his speech following a public misunderstanding with the Democratic National Congress, the main opposition party.

Mr. Bossman publicly accused the NDC of engaging in "partisan wrangling … and if you like speeches," after the party declared that no consultation had taken place on the Electoral Commission's plan to establish a register of electors for 2020.

"We, the Commission, will not indulge in a partisan pandering"

"If we in the Commission are convinced that the register is overloaded, we will go ahead and act appropriately. That's why we are here, "Dr. Asare told Joy News on Friday.

The NDC has asked the European Commission to properly submit the issue of a new register of electors for discussion by the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

Baako, editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, described the controversy between the EC and the NDC as "a storm in a cup of tea".

He added that the EC would of course consult political parties, as it has always done on key electoral issues.

Baako said during the newscast on Joy News Newsfile on Saturday that the NDC was right to point out that the proposed voter registration for 2020 had not been discussed at IPAC.

However, starting from there and suggesting that the EC was prepared to make some mistake did not help to establish a tradition of cooperation between the EC and the parties.

He is polluting the atmosphere, he said and complained that he considered "constant unrest and attacks on the EC and its staff".

For him, the NDC was based on a "just premise and drew a bad conclusion" and noted that a "multitude of suspicions" on the part of the EC could not constitute evidence that the Commission had something in his sleeve.

He also spoke to Mr Bossman Asare, Commissioner for Finance and Administration.

The veteran journalist said that if the European Commission is independent and does not take the instructions of an advisory body such as IPAC, it still needs the cooperation of political parties to roll out its programs.

To this end, he advised Mr. Asare to "monitor his choice of words" and "body language" in his dealings with the parties, particularly on issues that may give rise to controversy and political tension.

Afari Gyan, former President of the European Commission, has time to be tough, but the Commissioner must be cautious about the political environment in which the Commission operates.