On Wednesday, April 21, 2021 the National Democratic Congress (NDC) refused to attend the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, aimed at giving the various political parties the opportunity to review the December 7, 2020 general elections.
The biggest opposition party said it took the decision because of the lack of candour, odious duplicity and open bias that was displayed by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission in favour of the New Patriotic Party in the conduct of the 2020 general elections.
Among the 16-point proposal by the Electoral Commission (EC) that was agreed on by the Interparty Advisory Committee (IPAC), which subsequently took place on May 18, 2021 was the issue of the time that voting should end.
The group agreed that casting of ballots in the 2024 general election should end at 3pm instead of 5pm.This reform, when implemented, means that casting of ballots will end two hours earlier than the case has been since the 1992 elections, which ushered in the 4th Republic.
But the NDC, after the IPAC meeting, also held a presser where it indicated that changing the ‘end of ballot’ time has the potential to disenfranchise many Ghanaians. Some Ghanaians have sided with the NDC on this suggestion, but for us at The Chronicle we side with the General Secretary of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Alhaji Mohammed Frimpong, who indicated that this alternate reforms made by the NDC to the IPAC electoral reforms could have been better stated and shared at IPAC and not outside. We cannot agree less with the NDP General Secretary.
The NDC, no matter the grudge it has with the EC over the elections, should learn to bury the hatchet and move on. Post electoral meetings such as the one the EC held with the political parties, is meant to make reforms that will see to the conduct of free and fair elections in subsequent ones and we don’t see why any party should stay away.
The Chronicle holds the view that the NDC must finally accept the verdict of Ghanaians as loudly reinforced by the Supreme Court of the land. It is also incumbent on the part of the biggest opposition party to learn to table its major electoral challenges through the inter-party advisory platform. We think the NDC must reconsider its decision and go back to the IPAC table.
That aside, The Chronicle also advises the NDC to withdraw the rasping comments against the smaller political parties, as to their role and voting rights on IPAC. The smaller political parties play a role that is very beneficial in nurturing multiparty participatory democracy.
In some developed democracies, there are alternative political parties that champion issues of climate, immigration and reproductive rights among others. These smaller parties form pressure groups and are not interested in filing for parliamentary or presidential elections, but are only interested in pushing new left idealogy.
It is an open secret that the NDC, when they were in power, relied on the support of some of these minor political parties, and the exploits of Akua Donkor and her Ghana Freedom Party within the corridors of power is legendary under the John Mahama administration.
All political parties have a role to play in the multi party democratic system that we are running, and everybody’s suggestions and decisions are needed on board.
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