Committee on Electoral reforms to be set up — Afari Gyan
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has hinted that a 10-member Electoral Reform Committee would be inaugurated next week to come up with electoral reforms.
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Dr Afari-Gyan, who gave the hint at the launch of publications on electoral laws, said the committee would comprise representatives of each of the four political parties in Parliament, three persons from civil society organisations and three officials of the EC, one of whom would serve as secretary without voting right.
According to him, the committee will assess the electoral reform proposals submitted by the political parties, civil society organisations and recommendations by the Supreme Court, which adjudicated the 2012 election petition. It will make recommendations which can become part of the 2016 elections guidelines.
Adherence to guidelines
Dr Afari-Gyan called on Ghanaians to adhere to guidelines on elections.
He explained that that would help to avoid unnecessary litigations in the courts over election results.
The publications were the collaborative efforts of the EC and the European Union (EU).
Dr Afari-Gyan described the 329-page book on ‘’Electoral Laws’’ as an improvement upon an earlier publication and added that had petitioners of electoral results read the previous guidelines very well, they would not have gone to court since it would have enhanced their knowledge on the laws.
He said the EC had also published training manuals for political parties to serve as a guide to them.
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He said the publications had come at a significant time because the EC had to react to a lot of court cases on elections.
Authority
Tracing the brief history of the Association of African Electoral Authority (AAEA), the EC boss said the association, which has been in existence for sometime now, had made a lot of impact on elections on the continent.
According to him, the idea for the formation of the AAEA was discussed at a colloquium in Kampala and inaugurated in Accra. The association, which has its headquarters in Accra, has Dr Afari-Gyan as the Executive Secretary.
He said even though the association had no common arrangements, it had a common agreement.
He commended the EU for its support and expressed the hope that it would continue to support the EC to play its constitutional duty in organising free, transparent elections whose results would be acceptable to all participating political parties and other stakeholders.
Earlier in her welcome address, a Deputy Chairman of Finance and Administration of EC, Ms Georgina Opoku Amankwaa, said the book had come in at a time a lot of hot issues are lingering on on the doorstep of the EC’’.