Political parties slam EC for failing to consult on fees

Political party representatives who appeared on Radio XYZ’s current affairs, programme The Analyst have condemned the Electoral Commission for failing to consult political parties on some essential political issues in recent times.

The representatives who were commenting on the filing fee for presidential and parliamentary candidates for the December polls say although the EC has the final say on the amount to charge, consultation with the parties would have helped matters.

In accordance with regulations 4 and 5 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2012, the Electoral Commission said it will receive nominations for the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections on the 17th and 18th of October.

The Commission announced that the nomination fee for the Presidential Election was Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢10,000.00) while that of the Parliamentary Elections was One Thousand Ghana Cedis (¢1,000.00).

Some of the parties, especially, the smaller ones have expressed worry and wondered why the EC increased the fee for parliamentary candidates from 500 Ghana cedis last four years to 1,000 Ghana cedis this year while the Presidential candidates are to pay 10,000 Ghana cedis from previous 5,000.

Kwesi Longdon from the PPP, Philip Longdon from the NPP and Alex Segbefia of the NDC who spoke in turns although had diverse thought on the filing fee wished the EC would have consulted them though an IPAC meeting.

They believe the EC must be cautious in its dealings with the political parties. They have called for a full consultation process in future decisions that can affect the electoral process.