Ejisu-Juaben assembly fails to elect Presiding Member

The election of a new Presiding Member of the Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Assembly has ended inconclusively as neither of the two candidates for the position was able to cross the two-thirds majority votes’ threshold after two rounds of voting.

The incumbent, Gabriel Ansah-Sasreku, who is seeking re-election for another two year-term, polled 32 votes in the first round of voting, while his challenger, Michael Owusu, garnered 30 votes. There were three spoilt ballots.

The next round saw the votes for both contestants increase by one vote each.

The winning candidate would need not less than 48 yes votes by the 68-member assembly.

When it became clear that the deadlock could not be broken, the Municipal Electoral Officer, Mr. Ofori Gyamfi, was left with no option but to postpone the election.

No date was fixed for another poll.

The expectation is that there would be adequate consultations to enable the assembly members find a common ground to end the stalemate.