DEC. 7 POLLS IN DANGER … As Nduom, Mahama, Konadu prepare for showdown with EC

By Emmanuel Akli
The decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to disqualify 12 presidential aspirants has ruffled feathers, with all indications pointing to the fact that the December 7, a date set for both Presidential and Parliamentary elections could be changed for the second time.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) minority in parliament, a couple of months ago, kicked against the Constitutional Instrument (CI) submitted to parliament by the EC that sought to change the presidential and parliamentary  elections  date, from the usual December 7 timeline to   November 7, arguing that the EC was not ready to conduct the polls on the new date.
Though the Minority parliamentarians were castigated over this, they seem vindicated following threats by the disqualified presidential candidates to drag the EC to court to reverse the decision to disqualify them.
From Nana Konadu through Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom to United Front Party's (UFP) Nana Agyenim Boateng, they are all threatening legal actions.
Per the CI 94, which is regulating the conduct of the election, the election must be held on December 7 with the new president taking over office in January 7 next year.
Therefore, if the court actions are duly carried out, the EC may be restrained from conducting the election on December 7 and should the battle go beyond January 7 next year, the constitutional arrangement would be disrupted.
This means the litigating presidential aspirants would have sparked constitutional crisis and this is what Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom does not want to happen to the country.
In an interaction with the media, the business mogul argued that the mistakes detected on his forms were not fraudulent but a clerical one that could be rectified.
According to him, as a law abiding citizen, he does not want to disrupt the electoral process because the issue could easily be resolved, but if the EC still insists on disqualifying him, he would be left with no other option than to proceed to court.
“I am calling on the EC, specifically the Chairperson, who happens to be the Returning Officer, Mrs. Charlotte Osei to meet with for 5 minutes to rectify all the problems.
“The issue is not a matter of forgeries but rather simple administrative errors, which could be done away with within the 5 minutes discussion.”
Dr Edward Mahama, who had already contested three presidential elections on the ticket of the People National Convention (PNC) has not reacted to the disqualification but his General Secretary; Atik Mohammed told Citi FM that the party would also go to court to reverse the decision of the EC.
“I think it is unfortunate. At every step, the Electoral Commission is taking a decision that is very harmful, dangerous and unhelpful,” he said.
The EC's PRO, Eric Dzakpasu has, however, told Joy News that the Commission pointed out palpable errors in the forms of the candidates and gave ample opportunities for the disqualified candidates to correct their error-riddled forms, but a good number of the candidates returned the forms, still pregnant with the same errors.
Meanwhile, Issah Alhassan reports from Kumasi that Ghanaians should expect a long standing legal battle, possibly beyond the December 7 scheduled date for the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, following the decision by some disqualified parties and their presidential candidates to seek legal redress in court.
The Presidential Candidate of the United Front Party (UFP) Nana Agyenim Boateng, popularly known as Gyataba, has unambiguously stated his intention to seek an injunction in court, restraining the Electoral Commission from going ahead with the arrangements for the December 7 presidential polls until his disqualification is reversed.
Nana Agyenim Boateng is already in talks with his lawyers to formally file a suit at a High Court in Kumasi against the EC for ‘illegally’ dismissing his application to participate in the December 7 polls.
The UFP Presidential Candidate was among 11 other candidates who were disqualified by the EC on grounds of impropriety, including inappropriate filling of nomination forms as well as lack of credible subscribers.
The EC, in its decision to disqualify the 12 candidates, contended that their presidential nomination forms were incorrectly filed, whilst others had subscribers who were either not eligible voters or had engaged in multiple endorsements.
In the case of the UFP Presidential Candidate, the EC stated that three of his subscribers , out of 600, were found to have endorsed candidates, hence the   

decision by the electoral body to disqualify him from contesting in the polls.

However, Nana Agyenim Boateng, has strongly challenged the decision of the EC, describing it as not only unfair but also illegal per the EC’s own rules and regulations.

Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview, Nana Agyenim Boateng, stated without mincing words that this year’s election is not likely to be held on the stipulated date, as he is ready to engage in a long standing legal battle against the EC.

WRONG CLAIMS
According to the UFP Presidential Candidate, claims by the EC that some of his subscribers had engaged in multiple endorsements were not only false but also outrageous.

He argues that the said three persons never engaged in any form of multiple endorsements, stressing “these persons are party executives and parliamentary candidates whose allegiances are with the UFP and no party else.

“I have spoken with the people and they have categorically denied the claims by the EC; they have even sworn separate affidavits in support of their innocence and I am going to attach these affidavits to the court documents,” He noted.

EC IS BEING DISCRIMINATIVE
According to the UFP presidential candidate, the EC has discriminated against his party, stressing that the UFP is one of the few political entities that worked hard to meet all the requirements stipulated by the Commission ahead of the 2016 elections.

He indicated that the UFP was amongst few political parties that had offices in two-thirds of the 275 constituencies across the country, stressing that even a political party like CPP, whose nominations were accepted, could not meet the criteria set up by the EC.

“If this is not discrimination, then I don’t know what it is. The EC in their own rules and regulations, compelled all political parties to offices in two-thirds of the constituencies, we in the UFP managed to have 200 offices but the CPP had only 70 and yet the EC gave them go ahead to present their nominations.

Source:modernghana.com