Rawlings petitioned over Zanetor

Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings is facing an uphill task in her bid to represent the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament for the Klottey Korle constituency in the face of petitions against her election aside the suit against her.

The latest is a petition sent to no other person than her father – former President Jerry John Rawlings-founder of the NDC, asking him to advise his daughter to step down.

They claim she does not qualify to hold the position.

The petitioners, numbering 189 and all members of the NDC in the Klottey Korle constituency, said “The rank and file of the party feel aggrieved to learn that Zanetor could not vote in the very elections she contested because she is not a registered voter on the Electoral Commission’s national voter register – the very register on which compilation of the NDC biometric register was based.”

They quoted portions of the ‘Guidelines for the Elections of NDC Parliamentary Candidates for the 2016 Parliamentary Elections,’ which require persons seeking to contest primaries to meet the requirements of the election of a Member of Parliament (MP) under Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution.

The Article provides that a person does not qualify to contest for parliamentary office if that person is not a registered voter.

“If Zanetor were truly qualified to contest the elections, we would have thrown our support behind her to retain for us the Klottey Korle seat. We would have rallied behind her as we would for any qualified member of the party, but we seek to correct the injustice that is being foisted upon us so that we do not set the wrong precedent for future generations to build on the foundations we lay today,” they indicated.

They have petitioned the former president to speak against such an anomaly and ensure that the principles of justice, probity and accountability are not treated with contempt.

“We humbly pray that you ask your daughter to withdraw her candidature to preserve her dignity, your dignity, the dignity of the constituency and the dignity of the party,” the statement said.

Members of the group appealed to Mr. Rawlings, who they described as fair-minded, to look beyond family and personal interest to promote the integrity of the constituency, party and the nation at large since he has over the years reiterated his strong commitment to due process and accountability.

“We are of the conviction that you will not support schemes that seek to bend the law to favour a few privileged persons against the general interest of the NDC and the nation,” the petitioners added.