Parliament shoots down Nov 7, voting day remains Dec 7
Parliament yesterday rejected the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which sought to amend Article 112(4) of the 1992 Constitution to provide for elections to be held on the first Monday of November, instead of December 7, in every election year.
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The rejection means this year's presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on December 7.
A total of 125 Members of Parliament (MP) voted for the amendment, while 95 voted against it by secret ballot.
Announcing the results, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, said: “Article 291 Clause 3 requires that Parliament needs two-thirds of all MPs to approve the bill at the second reading stage” and indicated that two-thirds of the 275 MPs was 184.
"And, therefore, the bill is rejected at the second reading," he said to the shout of 'change is coming' from the Minority MPs.
Debate on the bill, which saw Majority MPs supporting the amendment and Minority MPs against it, followed a motion that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah Opong, had moved for a second reading of the bill and a subsequent reading of the report of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
The minister said the bill sought to amend Article 112(4) of the 1992 Constitution to provide for general election to be held on the first Monday of November in every election year to ensure effective and smooth transition.
Reading the report, the Committee Chairman, Mr Magnus K. Amoatey, said it had recommended the passage of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to provide for general election to be held in November, instead of December.
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Minority MPs
The Minority MPs argued that the proposed amendment was too short for the EC to be able to conduct credible, fair and smooth elections.
Again, they said, many Ghanaians, especially those who wanted their names to be transferred for them to vote in a different region, might be disenfranchised, since they might not be able to meet the stipulated number of days for the process.
Besides, they said, the EC did not have the needed funds to conduct the elections, as it had received only a third of its GH¢1.25 billion budget for the elections.
Wrapping up for the Minority in Parliament, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the NPP, in principle, was not against the amendment.
However, he said, the time was too short for the EC to go through all the processes to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections.
He said if the EC wanted to conduct the elections in November, then the NPP would not support the amendment.
Majority MPs
The Majority MPs argued that the amendment for elections to be held on the first Monday of November was necessary to give the EC enough time to conduct any possible run-off.
They said it would afford the transitional committee enough time to go through the processes for transition.
Wrapping up the position, the Majority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, said the committee, after consultations with stakeholders, including the EC, the political parties and other Ghanaians, had recommended the change of date for the elections.
He said the House should not fail Ghanians by failing to amend the bill, saying: "This House cannot fail the people of Ghana. We must support the position of the people of Ghana."
He said the Constitutional Instrument (CI) was in the form of information to Parliament and that it did not need 21 sitting days to come into force.
He said the EC was ready to conduct the elections if the date was brought to the first Monday of November.
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On the budget, Mr Bagbin said there had been no time when the EC had been given money for elections in advance.
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The MP for Akuapem South and Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament, Mr O.B. Amoah, said the days were too constrained for the EC to hold the elections on November 7.
He said because the EC had made the whole world aware that it was prepared for the November 7 elections, "it was a bit difficult for it to say it is constrained".
Mr Amoah said activities in the run up to the elections showed that there were still a lot that the EC needed to do.
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For instance, he said, we were in an exhibition period for 21 days, after which there would be claims and objections for another 21 days.
He said the EC also had to present a certified register to all the political parties and indicated that the commission had said it would have a certified register by September 7.
"The law says that even if the EC has the certified register, it has 28 days to give it to the political parties," he said.
Mr Amoatey said he was disappointed by the rejection of the bill because he did not understand why the MPs kept it to their chest during the committee sitting.
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He said at the public forum, representatives of the political parties and civil society organisations and members of the public had supported the need for the amendment of the provision.
Meanwhile, Mr Amoatey said the outcome would not have any implications for the elections because people were going to vote based on track record and the performance of MPs and the government.