Political parties request urgent IPAC meeting
The general secretaries of four political parties with representation in Parliament have requested an urgent Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting with the Electoral Commission (EC) ahead of the limited voter registration exercise scheduled for Friday, June 20, to Sunday, June 29, 2014.
Under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) political parties programme, the four parties — the ruling National Democratic Congress, the New Patriotic Party, the Convention People’s Party and the People’s National Convention — resolved at a meeting in Accra recently to get the EC to hold the urgent IPAC meeting to consider a number of issues impacting on the country’s electoral system.
The political parties, represented by Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia of the NDC; Mr Kwabena Agyepong of the NPP; Mr Ivor Greenstreet of the CPP; and Mr Mohammed Atik, a policy analyst, representing the PNC, met in Accra and took this decision to request a formal interaction with the EC on the need for reforms in the electoral arrangements. The four, therefore, signed a proposal for reforms and the steps needed to update the voters register, among other things and sent it to the EC.
Unfortunately, few weeks down the line, the EC is yet to acknowledge receipt of the request by the four political parties, much more meet the parties to consider the proposals, Mr Greenstreet told the Daily Graphic in a telephone chat Wednesday.
The political parties, among other things, also want a concensus to be built with the EC on the need for another voter registration before the process begins.
According to Mr Greenstreet, the political parties hope to discuss issues and agree on terms concerning the voter registration before heavy politicking starts.
"We are almost out of time already," he lamented and expressed the hope that the EC would heed their call and accept the request for an urgent IPAC meeting.
The EC last month gave notice that it would embark on a revision of the voters register for about nine days.
The revision, according to the EC, would be a limited voter registration exercise intended to offer Ghanaians who have attained the voting age of 18 since the last registration in 2012 and those who were above 18 years but could not, for various reasons, register as voters during the last registration exercise.
The registration is expected to take off from Friday, June 20, 2014 to Sunday, June 29, 2014 from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day.
The registration will take place at designated registration centres in all electoral areas across the country.
IPAC is made up of representatives of all registered political parties and the EC. It includes regional inter-party advisory committees and district inter-party advisory committees.
IPAC’s main function is to deliberate, share ideas and proffer advice on electoral matters.