All parties must obey the law on two-thirds presence

Section 9 (c) of the Political Parties Law,  2000 (Act 574) says all political parties must ensure that they have branches in all the regions of the country and must be “organised in not less than two-thirds of the districts in each region”.

However, a 2013 report of the Electoral Commission (EC) indicated that out of the 23 registered political parties, only the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) met the physical presence requirement. 

The number of political parties has, since the report was issued, increased to 26, but there has not been much change in their physical presence in the districts. 

It is in view of this that the EC has issued a directive to the political parties to have offices in two-thirds of the administrative districts of the country by May 31, 2016 or risk a ban.

The directive has ruffled the feathers of political parties which have still not been able to expand their presence across the country as required by law. 

It is understandable that the political parties that are found wanting are shaking, especially with just 11 days to the deadline, which may mean a loss of their certificates of existence which they have worked so hard to obtain.

But we believe that the non-complying political parties are jittery because they just went ‘dead’ and resurrected this year in view of the upcoming elections.

Nonetheless, the Daily Graphic believes that the ‘smaller’ political parties do not have a case if the law states that they must be present in at least two-thirds of the districts in each region before they can be recognised as formidable parties worthy of contesting any elections.

The framers of the law, we believe, intended for it to bring a certain level of seriousness in our politicking. We should not open our political doors to just anyone or group of persons who dream of becoming President. 

Governance is a very serious issue and, indeed, business which should not be taken lightly. It is also a very expensive venture and anyone or group of persons who enter politics must first be armed with that knowledge.

It now seems that the two main political parties — the NPP and the NDC — are the serious ones if the law is used as the measuring rod because they have the most number of offices across the country.

If the other 24 political parties really want to be given the mandate by Ghanaians to govern, they would do well to respect the same laws that they will use when they are voted into power.

The Daily Graphic is irked by the fact that the parties that have made moderate efforts to become national in character per the law are the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), which had 68 offices in 2013, and the People’s National Convention (PNC), which had 29.

That, to us, is a blot on our democracy if, in spite of a law that requires political parties to have two-thirds presence in the regions, we leave only the NPP and the NDC to do so and thereby emphasise their duopoly, as stated by the CPP National Chairman, Prof. Edmund Delle.

We do not dispute the fact that the smaller parties are also contributing their quota to the development of the country’s democracy, but we believe that the least they can do to promote fair, balanced and efficient elections is to obey the Political Parties Law.