Despite the insistence of the Electoral Commission (EC), chaired by Charlotte Osei – who appeared before the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament yesterday – that the commission would be able to conduct elections on November 7, most members of the committee were not convinced about its readiness.
The committee is said to have requested the EC to furnish it with the procurement arrangements for election materials in respect of the new date and for the EC to convince the members of the committee that it would be able to meet the deadlines for the procurement of election materials.
There were mixed reactions about the new date at a public forum organized by parliament on Monday.
DAILY GUIDE’S intelligence after the crucial meeting which ended at about 5.40 pm yesterday, indicated that most members of the committee said the new date might not be practicable for this year’s elections and that looking at the enormity of the preparation that the EC has to go through for the crucial elections and how close the date is, it would be practically impossible for the commission to conduct very credible elections on the new date.
The Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee would have to be thoroughly satisfied with EC’s preparations before it would present its report to the plenary for consideration.
After the consideration, the bill would have to be approved by two-thirds majority of the House through secret vote.
A member of the committee, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, told DAILY GUIDE that the true fate of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2016 for the change of the election date would be at the stage where members of parliament would be voting either to accept the bill or reject it.
As it stands now, none of the two major political parties – the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) which has 153 members and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) which also has 122 members – commands two-thirds majority of the House, which means that the fate of the new bill hangs in the balance.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr