THE Electoral Commission (EC) has stated that there will be no balloting for placement on the ballot paper for the presidential slot run-off slated for December 28.
Consequently, the positions of the Presidential candidates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which are the only parties contesting the second round balloting, will be first and second respectively on the ballot paper.
The Deputy Chairman of EC in-charge of operations, Mr David Adenze Kanga, said this in an interview in Accra yesterday. The positions of the NDC and the NPP on the ballot paper used for last Thursday?s Presidential elections were second and seventh respectively. According to Mr Kanga, since the GCPP, which got the first spot on the ballot paper in the recent presidential slot will not be contesting in the run-off, the NDC automatically moves to the first position while the NPP settles for the second and bottom spot.
He said the EC has put in place measures intended to ensure the smooth conduct of the run-off, the outcome of which will determine who becomes the next President of Ghana. The NPP?s spokesman on Works and Housing, Mr Kwamena Bartels, in an interview said the party?s position on the ballot paper will facilitate easy identification by its supporters throughout the country. ?The broad masses of our people as at now are at home with our popular slogan which caught up with them like wild bushfire in the few weeks to the general election,? he said. Mr Bartels, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma North, explained that the leadership of the party from the zonal to the national level would intensify and popularise its slogan to ensure that its flagbearer, Mr J. A. Kufuor, chalks an emphatic victory in the run-off. He also commended the leadership of other opposition parties for coming out early to pledge their support for the NPP in the second round, stressing that ?this development marks the sense of purpose and solidarity in the ranks of the opposition?. A national executive Member of the Progressive Alliance, Mr Daniel Markin, on his part, said the alliance has identified its shortcomings during the recent presidential elections and has adopted measures to over-run the NPP in the run-off.
He said partners of the alliance have been tasked to strive to mobilise a sizeable number of their supporters who failed to exercise their franchise in last Thursday?s general elections to vote in the run-off. ? The next two weeks will mark a systematic campaign by the alliance to whip the enthusiasm of the supporters throughout the country to vote massively for Prof. Mills in the Presidential run-off,? he said. Mr Markin, who is also the National Chairman of the Democratic People?s Party (DPP), called on supporters of the alliance to remain calm in the face of what he described as ?taunts and provocation? by its political opponents.
