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The timetable for the general elections scheduled for December 2024 has been requested by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) to be made public by the Electoral Commission.
Both the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress have voiced concern that in order to encourage effective preparation by all parties, the general election roadmap ought to have been made public by now.
After this is finished, the EC can try to persuade the political parties and other stakeholders that it is prepared for the polls in December, according to Albert Arhin, the National Coordinator of CODEO.
According to him, this would suggest that, if the election was to take place in November as the EC hopes, the body could be suitably ready for it.
“The only thing that I consider and which the EC should look at seriously is to be able to come out,” he stated on January 31 while speaking on TopStory on JoyFM. I think the larger opposition party and many of the smaller parties are dragging their heels because the timetable for the 2024 election has not been released.
“By now, that calendar should have been out to convince everybody that they really mean business and that whatever fear is from the opposition is nonexistent.”
His remarks come in response to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and other political parties’ worries that, should Parliament approve it, the EC would not be able to deliver on the scheduled November 7 date.
In light of this, he emphasized that the EC’s clarity on its plans for the elections is necessary for all parties to come to a consensus and accept the suggested date change.
Former President John Mahama has voiced his displeasure with the Electoral Commission’s (EC) proposed change to the date of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
He said that the attempt by the Electoral Commission to enact significant changes in the months leading up to the general election in 2024 might erode public trust in the electoral process.
Following the introduction of a new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) and a proposal to move the election date from December 7 to November 7, Mr. Mahama made these comments.
This new timeline, according to Dr. Bossman Asare, the EC’s Deputy Chairman in charge of Corporate Services, will make it easier for the election management body to mobilize for a runoff should the first round of voting results remain unclear at the end of this year’s polling.
He made it clear that the Attorney General and the parliamentary system must approve the implementation before the EC can make the final decision.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate for the general elections of 2024, however, emphasized that if the plans are not implemented as intended, they may cause chaos.
He said this while addressing the leadership of the Christian community in Koforidua as part of the “Building Ghana Tour” on Wednesday, January 31.
Mr Mahama emphasised that elections are very emotive events, and urged the country to handle such changes carefully to avoid chaos or disagreements.
“There are times when what the EC does not seem right. With just nine months until this year’s general elections we voted in 2020 you are now proposing significant changes, claiming they won’t implement indelible ink and other such absurdities” Mahama stated in twi.
If you do that, the public’s trust in the electoral process is not improved. Additionally, they claim they want to change the old C.I. and move the election date. The former President emphasized, “What we’re saying is that, why wait till now, you don’t spring surprises on people like that.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
