NDC, NPP must accept SC verdict – IEA

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on Friday urged all political parties to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court (SC) in the on-going Presidential Election Petition case.

A statement by the IEA issued on Friday and signed by Mrs Jean Mensa, Executive Director and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the party the ruling would favour should refrain from victory celebrations, provocations and taunting of the other party.

“The leadership of the political parties must meet and jointly call on their rank and file to also accept the SC ruling.

“The youth wings and foot-soldiers of the political parties must not allow themselves to be used as agents to foment conflict and violence after the SC ruling,” the statement said.

The IEA statement was issued at the end of a roundtable conference involving representatives of political parties including the National Democratic Congress, New Patriotic Party, Convention Peoples Party, as well as civil society groups, the academia, among others.

The roundtable was organised by the IEA, under the Ghana Political Parties Programme on the theme: “Post-electoral disputes resolution: Fostering peace, national cohesion and reconciliation after the SC ruling”.

The statement also urged the Electoral Commission and the political parties to use the Inter-Party Advisory Committee platform to amend fronts, iron differences and rebuild trust after the SC ruling.

It called on the Security Agencies, to be prepared to secure Ghana’s safety and to assert their authority and maintain peace, law and order after the Court’s ruling without fear or favour.

It said the media must ensure that they maintain absolute impartiality and avoid provocative discussions that could inflame passions.

The statement said the media must institute peace and reconciliation campaigns and continue to advocate and appeal to political parties to ban all kinds of victory parade or celebrations even before the SC gives its ruling.

“All election stakeholders should collectively demand and submit proposals for very thorough reform of the architecture of Ghana’s electoral governance based on the issues raised in the election petition.

”The National Peace Council and Traditional Authorities must begin to undertake interventions to calm nerves and invoke their status to impress upon the citizens to behave responsibly after the Court’s ruling,” the statement concluded.