The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to be more transparent in its dealing with political parties and electorates leading to the December elections.
Deputy General Secretary of the NDC Mustapha Gbande said during elections, the least thing can cause individuals to lose trust in the commission therefore the EC must try to eliminate anything that might cause lack of trust.
Speaking to JoyNews on June 5, he said “The EC has not done anything extraordinary what is appropriate under the circumstance of the exercise is to allow for more transparency that will end into a credible exercise is what the NDC advocated for,” he said.
His comments follows latest decision by the EC to reverse the decision to prevent political party agents from observing the transfer of votes exercise.
In a release signed by Deputy Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Fred Tetteh, on June 4, the EC said the decision stemmed from concerns from stakeholders following its initial decision.
“Following internal discussions and in consideration of the concerns of some stakeholders, the Commission has decided to revert to its decision made at IPAC.
“The Commission has directed its Officers at the Districts to allow Agent of Political Parties to observe the Transfer of Votes Exercise with effect from tomorrow Wednesday, 5th June, 2024,” portions of the release read.
Mr Gbande said although the party welcomes the decision the electoral body has a role to play in ensuring that individuals trust the commission.
“This is the first time in the history of our country where we are doing registration and again at the same time, we have issues of missing equipment of the electoral commission so it is automatic that mistrust will increase,” he added.
On June 3, the EC issued a directive to its Regional Directors, instructing them to inform District Directors that agents of political parties will not be allowed to observe the ongoing transfer of votes.
According to the EC, the decision comes in response to several clashes that have occurred at its district offices.
However, the NDC asked its agents to disregard the EC’s instruction and go to the continue with monitoring at the ongoing votes transfer.
The NDC argued that this directive could potentially facilitate gerrymandering through unlawful voter transfers, undermining the integrity of the electoral process.
Following the resistance the EC decided to reconsider.
Director of Electoral Services with the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe explains that it was committed to ensuring that major stakeholders are comfortable with the all processes hence the NDC’s refusal to accept the decision necessitated the withdrawal of the initial decision.
Source: myjoyonline.com
