Lawsuit delays Council of State formation

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on Thursday said a lawsuit filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is delaying the formation of the Council of State, reports the Public Agenda.

The NDC is seeking a perpetual injunction to restrain the Electoral Commission (EC) from conducting elections for regional representatives of the council.

Baah-Wiredu said with the completion of the selection of the two representatives of the 110 District Assemblies to form the Regional Electoral colleges, the Electoral Commission is mandated to conduct the elections to elect the regional representatives to the Council of State to complement the president's nominees.

The Supreme Court will rule on the suit on June 13 but until the final determination of the suit the EC cannot hold the elections, he explained.

The NDC said in its suit that at the time the EC gave notice for the elections, the district assemblies were not properly constituted to elect people to the Electoral College.

It said letters written by the Minister of Local Government had terminated the appointments of all district chief executives at the time of the notice of the elections. Under the Constitution, the Council of State shall consist of a former Chief Justice, a former Chief of Defence Staff, a former Inspector-General of Police and the president of the National House of Chiefs.

There shall also be one representative from each region elected by an Electoral College, made up of representatives of each district assembly and 11 other members appointed by the President. The election was to have been conducted on March 20 in accordance with Article 89 of the 1992 constitution.