Cracking whip on moribund parties by EC; Parties share perspective
The Electoral Commission has been called upon to come out with a clear criteria to prevent the springing up of political parties which surface during elections only to fold up when elections are over.
Advertisement
This is because the current criteria of looking for only painted offices in two thirds of the constituencies, as well as audited accounts to crack the whip on inactive political parties could be misleading and wrong.
The General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Bernard Mornah, in an interview, explained that painted offices alone could not make offices functional without computers and supporting staff to operate them.
General Elections
He was sharing some views on the Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) intention to crack the whip on small parties that were not contributing significantly to the political dispensation in the country.
Recently, when the EC presented a provisional certificate to the United Progressive Party (UPP), led by Mr Akwasi Addai, alias Odike, the Deputy Commissioner of EC in charge of Finance and Administration, Mrs Georgina Opoku Amankwaa, hinted that the EC would start to crack the whip on political parties that broke the laws governing political parties.
But Mr Mornah argued that because some political parties were not well endowed, they had prioritised their activities such that they had enough resources to participate in general elections.
He explained that PNC was like some political parties which, after election, embarked on re-organisation and retooling in the quiet of their offices after assessing the success and failures, which normally was not meant for public consumption and ought not to be misconstrued as dormancy.
He, therefore, advised the EC to take into consideration some other factors such as the ability of a political party to consistently participate in elections of the country, which also required resources.
Other Trending Stories
The National Chairman of the United Front Party (UFP), Dr Agyenim Boateng, alias Djataba, blamed the inactivity of the small parties on the EC, saying the EC ought to convene regular meetings through the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
Challenges and achievements
This, he argued, would enable the EC to know what was going on within the various political parties, their challenges and achievements.
He also called on the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to nurture the small parties to grow by providing them with some support as it had been extending to political parties with representation in Parliament who often attended workshops by the IEA to build their capacity.
Dr Boateng said as a leader of UFP, he had been touring the regions, districts and constituencies to meet party executives to know what was happening within the party across the country.
He said the UFP was also strategising for the way forward.
Spring surpises
“This is enough proof that the party is not dormant but getting prepared and working hard behind the scenes to spring surprises come 2016 elections,” he stated.
Dr Henry Lartey, the National Chairman and Leader of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCCP), currently on nationwide tour, said some of the political parties, especially the GCPP, were organising their constituency and regional elections on the quiet and would only come out after they had successfully completed the elections.
Dr Josiah Aryee, the National Chairman of National Democratic Party (NDP) told the Daily Graphic that the EC must come out with what it referred to as moribund parties.
He disclosed that within the next six months, the NDP would complete all its internal elections from the constituency, regional and national levels and would be strongly prepared to give the ruling National Democratic Congress “a good run for their money’’.
He said the party’s work was in progress as it had set aside six months to conduct its internal elections which would culminate in the election of a flag bearer for the 2016 Elections.