The Electoral Commission (EC) is reluctant to reinstall the main opposition NDC into the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), according to former president John Dramani Mahama.
The former leader disclosed that the Peace Council’s attempts to reach an understanding over the NDC’s return to IPAC with the EC and the two major parties had failed.
Speaking to Voice of America in Washington, Mr. Mahama said “The Peace Council has invited them for the last 8 months. The Electoral Commission can’t find time to sit with the Peace Council and after that have a joint meeting between the two biggest parties so that we can go back to IPAC. They’re not interested,”
Dr. Bossman Asare, the Electoral Commission’s (EC) Deputy Chairman in charge of Corporate Services, has stated that the EC is not need to compel all political parties to attend IPAC and other EC-related sessions.
After the NDC withdrew from the IPAC last year, he said on Joy Fm, “One thing that must be obvious is that parties coming to IPAC, the EC cannot force any political party to attend to IPAC.”
In the meantime, the NDC has suggested that the IPAC and its advising function in the electoral process should be given a legal foundation without interfering with the Electoral Commission’s constitutional independence.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com