Afari Gyan showed us disrespect – PPP

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has descended heavily on the National Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, saying he has shown them the greatest of disrespect and “height of discrimination” by not acknowledging their efforts in the process of electoral reforms.

The PPP said it was the first political party in Ghana to write to the Commission after the 2012 disputed elections over electoral reforms.

“[But] he never wrote back to us. That is the height of discrimination and disrespect,” said a Deputy National Secretary of the party, Paa Kow Ackon.

Mr. Ackon was speaking on TV3’s Midday Live on Tuesday, January 27 regarding his party’s claim that it was by-passed in the composition of a 10-member committee to oversee proposals on electoral reforms.

The committee, which was inaugurated last week, has as part of its membership representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Yes People’s Party (YPP).

The PPP claims the EC discriminated in the composition of the committee against it especially given its standing as the second largest opposition party in Ghana.

“We are going to court to seek a legal interpretation,” said Mr. Ackon.

But the Head of Public Affairs of the Commission, Christian Owusu Parry, who is also a member of the committee, said the EC cannot stop any party from heading to the courts to seek legal advice but in the current situation, there is little the Commission can do.

He explained that the EC considered the track-record of political parties before adding them to the committee, an explanation which Mr Ackon disagreed with, citing the exclusion of the People’s National Convention (PNC) as reason why Mr Parry's explanation is untenable.