Jean Mensa – EC Chairperson
In a surprising turn of events, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has filed an interlocutory injunction application against the Electoral Commission (EC), seeking to halt the upcoming Ejisu by-election scheduled for April 30.
The CPP’s move aims to prevent the by-election from proceeding until a lawsuit against the Electoral Commission is resolved.
The lawsuit, initiated by Emmanuel Gallo, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the CPP, asserts that the party formally communicated its decision not to participate in the by-election to the Electoral Commission on April 18.
The party contends that the selection of a parliamentary candidate for the Ejisu Constituency should involve the Constituency Branch Party Conference, followed by approval from the Central Committee, which has not occurred in this instance.
The CPP maintains that neither Esther Osei nor any other individual has been duly elected through the party’s established procedures for candidacy selection in the Ejisu Constituency.
Among the six reliefs the party is seeking, it is praying the court to declare “that on record, no Constituency Branch Conference of the CPP has been held in Ejisu and elected the said Esther Osei or anybody as a parliamentary candidate for consideration and approval by the CPP’s Central Committee to be submitted to Defendant as CPP’s Parliamentary candidate for the said Ejisu Constituency by-election.”
The party added that its “Central Committee has not considered and approved the said Esther Osei or any other person to contest on the ticket and behalf of the CPP as a political party, regarding the Defendant’s intended Ejisu Constituency by-election.”
In its legal action, the CPP seeks a declaration affirming that the party’s Central Committee has not endorsed Esther Osei or any other candidate to contest on behalf of the CPP in the Ejisu Constituency by-election. The party is praying the High Court to injunct the by-election until its claims and demands are determined.
This latest development adds a new layer of complexity to the Ejisu by-election, as the CPP aims to halt the electoral process until its internal party procedures are properly followed.
By Vincent Kubi