Former Majority leader angry with EC over ROPAL
A former majority leader in Parliament, Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, has indicated that the Electoral Commission (EC) is to blame for its failure to implement the Representation of People Amendment Law (ROPAL).
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He said he led Parliament to pass ROPAL, because it was a good law that would allow Ghanaians living outside the country to vote in elections.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong, who was speaking at a roundtable discussion in Accra last Tuesday, said countries with lower political and democratic credentials were allowing their citizens living abroad to vote in elections.
Therefore, he said, Ghana’s Parliament thought it prudent to pass ROPAL to allow Ghanaians living outside the country to vote in elections.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong said the EC, however, did not present to Parliament the constitutional instrument that would pave the way for the implementation of ROPAL.
We needed the law because countries below Ghana’s political or democratic credentials were practising it.
“ROPAL has failed due to the lack of effectiveness on the side of the EC. They need to bring the constitutional instrument to Parliament,” he said.
The roundtable discussion on “Electoral Accountability and Political Incentives: The Challenges of Consensus Building in African Democracies” was organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in collaboration with the United States Embassy in Accra.
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It was attended by leaders of political parties, heads of civil society organisations, academicians and students.
ROPAL
ROPAL was passed in 2006 to enfranchise Ghanaians living abroad in line with Article 42 of the Constitution, but amid protestations from a section of the public.
Article 42 says "every citizen of Ghana, of 18 years of age or above and of a sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda".
The introduction of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act (ROPAA) and its subsequent passage into law by Parliament sparked a series of street protests mainly from the opposition parties.
According to those who opposed it, the system to be adopted could not be monitored because of the lack of logistics and the human resource to monitor the process worldwide.
Political scientist
An Associate Professor and Chairperson of Political Science at the Haverford College, Pennsylvania in the United States of America, Prof. Susanna D. Wing, lauded Ghana for her respect for political rights and civil liberty.