PPP drags EC to court over filing fees for presidential, parliamentary candidates

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has dragged the Electoral Commission (EC) to court for fixing the filling fees for presidential and parliamentary candidates in this year’s general election at GH¢50,000 and GH¢10,000, respectively.

Joined to the suit as second defendant is the Attorney-General (A-G).

A writ of summons filed at the Accra High Court said the PPP described the approved fees by the EC as “discriminatory, arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable’’.

The EC, on September 8, 2016, announced an increase in the filing fee for presidential candidates from GH¢5,000 in 2012 to GH¢50,000 in this year’s general election and that of parliamentary candidates from GH¢1,000 in 2012 to GH¢10,000 this year.

Per the directive issued by the electoral body, filing fees are deposits which will be confiscated should a presidential candidate fail to secure 25 per cent of the presidential votes and a parliamentary candidate also fails to secure 12.5 per cent of votes in a constituency.

Four political parties, namely, the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the PPP, vehemently criticised the increment.

The PPP, in particular, through its Policy Advisor, Mr Kofi Asamoah Siaw, said the increment showed that the EC wanted to auction the country’s general election to the highest bidder and discourage competent Ghanaians from contesting the elections.

Statutory or Constitutional Instrument

The PPP, in its writ, argues that the EC’s reliance on regulations 8 and 45 of C.I. 94, the constitutional instrument that governs this year’s elections, as the legal basis for the increment is faulty.

According to the party, the EC derived its power to charge filing fees for presidential and parliamentary elections from PNDC laws 284 and 285.

“The proper instrument to govern the exercise of the EC’s vested power to charge fees or to request for a deposit of fees for the 2016 general election ought to be a statutory instrument and not a constitutional instrument,” it said.

Reliefs

The PPP is, therefore, seeking a declaration that the proper instrument that the EC could employ to charge fees for presidential or parliamentary elections is a statutory instrument and not a constitutional instrument.

It also wants an order from the court to bar the EC from collecting the filing fees for the presidential and parliamentary elections until the “appropriate statutory instruments have been passed in accordance with the appropriate legal regime’’.

Another relief sought by the party is a declaration that the “entire C.I. 94 does not contain the appropriate provisions and thus is not in accordance with Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution”.

It is further seeking the court to declare Regulation 45 of C.I. 94 as “discriminatory”, “arbitrary”, “capricious” and “unreasonable”.