EC to brief parliament on 2008 elections

Accra, May 22, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) is expected before Parliament to brief the House on preparations and preparedness towards to the 2008 general elections in December. Discussions on the need for Parliament to be updated on the EC's programme for the elections came under the spotlight when the House convened on Thursday.

Members said time was running out and the House was still in the dark as to when the EC was going to open the voter's register and make public other programmes lined up for the elections. Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, (NPP-New Juaben North) raised the issue immediately after correction of votes and proceedings saying, leadership had been unable to invite the EC to brief Parliament as promised before the House went on the Easter break.

"EC has a duty to inform the general population about their programmes...what is leadership doing to appraise the House about preparations for the elections...the House needs to be briefed about the governance process," he said

Mr. Owusu-Agyemang said information about the programmes and preparations on the elections were necessary for a credible election. Mr. Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker, who was presiding, said the Speaker's Office was yet to receive correspondence on the matter and asked the leadership about the situation.

Both Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Deputy Majority Leader and Mr. Edward Doe-Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader, said the workload of the House got in the way and therefore the EC could not be programmed to brief the House during the last session. They promised that, as a matter of urgency, the EC would be brought in to inform members about preparations for the elections.