Time for EC and stakeholders to build bridges

With barely 117 days to the November 7 general election, there is a heightened sense of anxiety over the polls whose success or otherwise rests in the bosom of the Electoral Commission (EC).

Many, including President John Dramani Mahama, are of the view that the EC should be given the free hand to prosecute the programme for the election.

However, others also posit that the conduct of the EC as it discharges its mandate leaves much to be desired and are, therefore, clamouring for more transparency in its approach.

So far, it has been a ding dong affair as to which direction the EC should go in prosecuting the programme of activities towards the 2016 polls.

Of much concern is the issue of how best to clean the voters register in order to get a reasonably credible register for the elections.

The deletion of names of voters who registered with National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards has particularly been an issue, even after the Supreme Court had given a judgement on it.

Fortunately, the court has given a directive to the EC to delete all such names.

it is our candid view that the EC should be forthcoming on how it is going to implement the directive by the court to the letter.

It is time for the commission and all stakeholders to build bridges in order to end the mistrust and suspicion in order to sanitise the electoral environment.

In furtherance of this, it is good to note that the EC and the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) held a meeting on Tuesday to mend emerging differences as we approach the elections.

More of such dialogue will go a long way to fashion out a common approach towards the attainment of free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections.

The Daily Graphic supports the call by the President for the bastardisation of the EC to stop to enable it to discharge its duties and functions to the satisfaction of not only the major stakeholders but also the entire Ghanaian population, as well as the international community.

But it is equally imperative for the EC to put its best foot forward by showing more transparency, candour and consensus to engender confidence in the whole process.

Ghana cannot fail itself and the global community as it goes into the seventh election in the Fourth Republic. So far, the country has done quite well in the last six elections — a feat globally attested to and so nothing must be done to erode the laudable gains.

Undoubtedly, the stakes are extremely high in the elections, as all the contesting political parties, particularly the ruling National Democratic Congress and the dominant opposition party, the New Patriotic Party, are leaving no stone unturned in their desire to chalk up victory.

Everything must be done to ensure that the outcome of the elections is acceptable by all, a situation which must start with the EC, notwithstanding the fact that a successful election is a shared responsibility.