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Mr. Eric Dzakpasu, Communications Officer at the Electoral Commission, speaking at the press briefing. Image: INNOCENT K.OWUSU
The Electoral Commission (EC) confirmed that the district level elections (DLE) and the referendum to amend Article 55 (3) of the Constitution with a view to electing district, mayor and municipal leaders District (MMDCE) will be held on the same day.
However, he indicated that timelines for the election, referendum and related activities would be announced in due course.
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Prior to the referendum, the EC developed a constitutional instrument to regulate the referendum. This text will be discussed with the Attorney General's Department and tabled at this session of Parliament.
EC chief of communications Eric Kofi Dzakpasu said in a press statement following the meeting of the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) held yesterday.
Representatives of registered political parties, development partners, a number of civil society organizations (CSOs) and senior officials of the EC were present at the meeting.
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The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Hajia Alima Mahama, had previously indicated that the referendum and elections would be held in September this year.
On ROPAL
The EC also stated that the Committee on Legislation on the Modification of the Representation of Peoples had convened its meetings, starting with the Greater Accra region.
Stakeholders to be consulted include political parties, civil society organizations, clergy, media and traditional authorities, following which regional consultations will take place.
"Subsequently, the Committee will engage in international consultations to gather the views of Ghanaians abroad and to learn from the experience of other electoral management bodies.
The Committee is expected to present a full report to the EC by the end of May 2019.
To this end, the EC suggested at the IPAC meeting its intention to set up a committee to regulate the activities of political parties in this area.
On the issue of submitting reports and audited accounts, the EC urged political parties that had not yet submitted their accounts to do so before February 13, 2019.
He also noted that a number of audited accounts received were below international standards.
Violence at the Ayawaso by-election
The EC also condemned the violence that took place in the residence of Democratic National Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, Mr. Delali Kwasi Brempong, during the recent by-election of Ayawaso West Wuogon and called on political parties to lean on the issue of militias within their respective groups in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
"In the recent by-election, it was noted that the security guards should have handled the clashes in the NDC candidate's home better," he said.
NDC reaction
Speaking to the press after the close of the IPAC meeting, NDC Secretary General Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the commission was seeking to present the table that the election partial had been peaceful and successful.
But this comment, he said, did not find favor with the majority of the parties present, who wondered what criteria the EC was using for the by-election to be successful or peaceful.
He went on to say that "if an election management body can call this by-election a peaceful one, then it does not know what it is.
To say that this election is a success is also neither here nor there, because it is the worst election in terms of participation. Under the Constitution, you have an obligation to ensure that the largest number of eligible people register and participate in all of our elections.
So, if you have a constituency where nearly 90,000 Ghanaians have been registered as eligible voters and you end up having 17,000 people, which represents 19% of the participants, do you call this a successful election? "
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