Accra, March 11, GNA - The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday expressed concern about the sluggish administrative procedure adopted by the Electoral Commission (EC) to investigate the alleged bloated voters' register in the Ashanti Region.
"We do not object to the EC carrying out its own investigation. However, ...without any open and transparent approach toward getting to the bottom of the matter, the suspicions and mistrust brewing over the register can only get worse," Nana Ohene Ntow, NPP General Secretary, stated.
Nana Ohene Ntow was speaking at a press conference organised by the NPP to highlight the party's position on the purported bloated voters' register.
The NPP said it believed the EC could have acted more expeditiously on the allegation than it had done so far, and rejected EC's three-member in-house investigation team.
"The (three-member) investigation team is in contravention of a consensus agreement reached at the last Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, which suggested an investigation team comprising political party representatives, EC officials and Information Technology (IT) experts.
"We do respect the competence of the Commission in the mandate given it by the Constitution and other legal instruments of State. However, we believe that a broad-based, open and transparent stakeholder investigation would help to clear all doubt possibly created by the allegation."
Nana Ohene Ntow also appealed to the EC to be a credible referee during the registration; voting; counting and declaration stages of the electoral process.
The NPP General Secretary stressed that should the party have any cause to question the EC's operations, "we will pursue it in the spirit and letter of the National Constitution and Electoral Laws for the attainment of national stability and peace devoid of any incendiary political motives".
Nana Ohene Ntow noted: "For the NPP any issue that has to do with the credibility and integrity of any aspect of the electoral process is of crucial importance. Whether it has to do with the pre-voting, voting or post-voting ... any doubts and inadequacies could have devastating consequences for national stability and peace."
The NDC has alleged that a voters' register it obtained from the EC contained a bloated list in 13 constituencies in the Ashanti Region. However, the EC has denied it and distributed an authentic list for the Ashanti Region to the political parties.
Accra, March 11, GNA - The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday expressed concern about the sluggish administrative procedure adopted by the Electoral Commission (EC) to investigate the alleged bloated voters' register in the Ashanti Region.
"We do not object to the EC carrying out its own investigation. However, ...without any open and transparent approach toward getting to the bottom of the matter, the suspicions and mistrust brewing over the register can only get worse," Nana Ohene Ntow, NPP General Secretary, stated.
Nana Ohene Ntow was speaking at a press conference organised by the NPP to highlight the party's position on the purported bloated voters' register.
The NPP said it believed the EC could have acted more expeditiously on the allegation than it had done so far, and rejected EC's three-member in-house investigation team.
"The (three-member) investigation team is in contravention of a consensus agreement reached at the last Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, which suggested an investigation team comprising political party representatives, EC officials and Information Technology (IT) experts.
"We do respect the competence of the Commission in the mandate given it by the Constitution and other legal instruments of State. However, we believe that a broad-based, open and transparent stakeholder investigation would help to clear all doubt possibly created by the allegation."
Nana Ohene Ntow also appealed to the EC to be a credible referee during the registration; voting; counting and declaration stages of the electoral process.
The NPP General Secretary stressed that should the party have any cause to question the EC's operations, "we will pursue it in the spirit and letter of the National Constitution and Electoral Laws for the attainment of national stability and peace devoid of any incendiary political motives".
Nana Ohene Ntow noted: "For the NPP any issue that has to do with the credibility and integrity of any aspect of the electoral process is of crucial importance. Whether it has to do with the pre-voting, voting or post-voting ... any doubts and inadequacies could have devastating consequences for national stability and peace."
The NDC has alleged that a voters' register it obtained from the EC contained a bloated list in 13 constituencies in the Ashanti Region. However, the EC has denied it and distributed an authentic list for the Ashanti Region to the political parties.
