Electio2000: NPP, NRP Slam EC ....

...It's Incapable Of Conducting Free, Fair Elections

Two of the political parties contesting this year's presidential and parliamentary polls say they have no faith in the ability of the Electoral Commission (EC) to a conduct free and fair election on December 7.

While the New Patriotic Party (NPP) says its lack of confidence is premised on so many factors, the National Reform Party 's Ashanti Regional Chairman, Opanin Kwame Afreh, advocates that the Commission must be dissolved immediately for gross display of incompetence in handling preparations for the elections.

According to Afreh, the admission by the Chairman of the EC, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, that the Voters' Register was bloated by over 1.5 million names, was enough evidence of the Commission's incompetence.

He said the bloating was because of double registration and other factors, which were overlooked by the EC. Afreh cautioned the opposition parties to show concern about the bloated Register now, or else it would be too late to react to the consequences. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the NPP said it has no confidence in the EC because recent statements by its officials and contradictory statements on the issue of eligibility of voters to vote might be intended to allow rigging of the polls.

Mr. Dan Botwe, General Secretary of the NPP, said the EC has no clear idea of what is happening on the electoral front and that it may be throwing dust into the eyes of the public on some issues to deliberately prepare the ground for rigging.

Otherwise, why would it be that after spending huge sums of donor money, as well as that of the tax payer, to prepare ID cards and replace thumb-printed ID cards with photo Ids, the EC would say that anyone without an ID card on election day can vote, provided he can prove that he is a registered voter, Botwe asked.

He said it was unacceptable for the EC to give the impression that the proposed new voting system by the NPP, which is meant to help check rigging, should have been brought up at the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) level, when the EC has always stated that the IPAC was only an advisory body. He said the EC in 1996, for example, introduced a last-minute desperate measure to check rigging of the elections by introducing the punching of ID cards at a great cost to the nation when those people bent on rigging did not use one ID card to vote.

He said unless the EC comes up with a better solution to arrest the issue of the 1.5 million extra voters on the Electoral Register, it must weigh the NPP proposal and not shoot it down without concrete reasons. According to the Chairman of the NPP, Mr. Samuel Odoi Sykes, his party's proposal, which calls for voting to be cut off at 11am on December 7, with only those in queues being allowed to vote, is meant to safeguard the nation from possible electoral disputes.

The suggestion is in the interest of the nation and is as a result of the desire of the party to ensure that the NDC or any other party, including the NPP, have no reason to challenge the results of the elections after it has lost, he declared.

The Chairman, who read the party's statement, said unlike 1996, when it was the NPP that said there were over 2 million fictitious names on the Register, the Chairman of the EC has, this time, admitted that the Register is bloated.

And this is a cumulative figure from the 1992 elections, the party said. Mr. Odoi-Sykes alleged that the registration and illegal issuance of ID cards were still going on in various constituencies across the country, with the notable case being recorded in Brong Ahafo, Eastern Region and Greater Accra.

"All these are going on, and if we are saying that there is no way you can remove this extra 1.5 million names, why don't you make sure that everybody votes once? And people can only vote once, if everybody votes at the same time", Odoi-Sykes said.

He cited allegations of electoral fraud by the NDC Klottey-Korle MP, Mr. David Lamptey and other similar cases, and accused the ruling party of being against the proposed voting method; because it would prevent them from rigging the elections through well orchestrated multiple voting.

He tasked the NDC and its Vice Chairman, Professor Kofi Awoonor, to suggest an alternative solution to cleansing the Electoral Register of the excess voters if they feel the NPP proposal is unworkable.