[ 2016-11-09 ]

EC disqualification a complete waste of time – Nduom
The Progressive People’s Party (PPP)
Presidential Candidate has described the earlier
disqualification of some 12 presidential
candidates by the Electoral Commission (EC) as a
needless exercise.

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has said the decision by the
Commission which was overturned by Ghana’s apex
court ended up wasting Ghanaians time.

“This is a matter that was not supposed to
happen the way it did,” he said, expressing
excitement that his decision to petition the High
Court has paid off.
The economist made these comments during an
interview with Raymond Acquah, host of Joy FM’s
Top Story programme, Wednesday.

The EC on October 10 rejected the nominations of
leaders of 12 political parties for not meeting
Regulations 9 of the C.I.94, the law governing the
2016 election.

The affected parties among which include the PPP,
National Democratic Party (NDP), All People's
Congress (APC) and People's National Convention
(PNC) among others went to the High Court to
challenge the decision.

The PPP was the first to file the suit and the
judge who presided over its suit quashed the
decision of the Commission, ordering it to give
the party the opportunity to make corrections on
its nomination form.

In a surprising development, the Commission
displeased by the decision of the lower court went
to the Supreme Court (SC) to seek review of the
ruling.
Later the APC's presidential candidate, Dr Hassan
Ayariga also won his suit against the Commission.

Sections of Ghanaians, many of whom had hailed the
Commission for reducing the number of presidential
candidates, wondered if the December 7 polls would
come off considering the posture of the
Commission.

Minority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah had told Joy
News that he feared the election would be
postponed as happened in Nigeria during the 2015
election when the polls were rescheduled to six
weeks time.

EC boss, Charlotte Osei in an interview with BBC's
Akwasi Sarpong expressed confidence that the suits
which had been brought against the Commission
would not undermine the electoral calendar.

The whole drama had dragged on for close to a
month since the nation was told of the
presidential candidates who would not make it to
the ballot.
But on Monday, the justices of the Supreme Court
directed the EC to give an audience to the
aggrieved presidential candidats and afford them
an opportunity to correct their errors.

The Commission complied and on Wednesday announced
that it would not accept the nomination of seven
presidential candidates.

They include leaders of the Ghana Freedom Party
(GFP), Independent People's Party (IPP), All
People's Congress (APC), and the United Front
Party (UFP).
The others are flagbearers of the United
Development System Party (UDSP), Great
Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and two
independent candidates, Ward Brew and Kwame Asiedu
Walker.

The PPP leader, former First Lady Nana Konadu
Agyemang Rawlings of the National Democratic Party
(NDP), and Dr Edward Mahama of the People's
National Convention (PNC), who were earlier on
disqualified joined the list of seven presidential
candidates for the December polls.

Considering what has transpired in the country
within the month as a result of the EC's behavior,
Dr Nduom said Ghanaians did not deserve what
happened.
“We know we have a lot of work to do [because]
we’ve lost some grounds but we’ve gain a bit
of visibility and because of this we’ve gotten
to know who our friends are," he said.

He said the whole brouhaha would not have happened
had the nation a "properly constituted voters'
register."

“Too much has been made of that small matter,"
he said, adding he was happy that the "legal right
of not just Papa Kwesi Nduom, but Ghanaians facing
state institutions have been respected."

Dr Nduom said the PPP would be organise mega
rallies in across the country starting from the
Central Region to regain the party's place in the
election.
"We are on track to win the December 7," he said
with an air of confidence, adding, those who had
hoped for his disqualification would see at the
Flagstaff House.

Source - Myjoyonline.com

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