Jean Mensa – Chairperson of Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced that about 60% of political parties have endorsed its proposal to hold this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections in November.
Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, who disclosed this, indicated that at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Monday the parties urged the Commission to proceed with the plan provided it can be legally implemented.
He added, however, that the majority of the parties agreed that if the EC is unable to carry out the process this year, it should start in 2028.
“So in principle, all the parties that attended IPAC yesterday were for it for 2028. But for 2024, almost 60% of the parties, more than half of the parties, said if it will be possible for the EC to go through the legal processes to have it implemented this year, let’s go ahead,” Dr. Asare told JoyNews yesterday.
According to him, the EC will be able to come through on all the legal requirements needed to hold the elections in November.
“Looking at our calendar, we are pretty sure that we will be able to do everything, whatever it takes to ensure that we go through the legal process,” Dr. Asare intimated.
He added that the EC is not the final determinant because implementation must go through the Attorney General’s Department and Parliament’s approval.
“But as I said, as far as we are concerned, whatever we need to do, whatever is necessary, whatever is proper that must be done to ensure that we are able to consummate it and have the elections, we are well able to do that,” Dr. Asare noted.
NDC position
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and certain political parties have rejected the proposal, highlighting the EC’s limited time to hold a peaceful poll.
The NDC’s Director of Elections and ICT, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, said the EC must proceed with caution.
He said that the overwhelming agreement was that, given everything the EC has to do between now and the next presidential and parliamentary elections, it would be taking on more than it could do.
“As an institution, if it wanted to add the needed parliamentary processes to change the date for the elections, it’s something that we all discussed, and we are all men and women of faith,” he posited.
According to him, the NDC continues to believe that the proposal should be exposed to a broader national discussion in order to include all viewpoints and reach an appropriate decision.