Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said the adamant position taken by the Electoral Commission on the compilation of a new voters’ register goes a long way to confirm that the move by the EC is a deliberate one in an attempt to get the NDC to stay in opposition forever.
Mr. Ablakwa said the EC’s entrenched position clearly indicates it is following through with a statement that was made by the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, that a new register will keep the NDC in opposition forever.
The lawmaker said the NDC remains convinced that there are only two reasons for which the EC wants to compile a new register. These reasons the legislator says are to firstly keep the NDC in opposition and secondly, to allow for members of the governing New Patriotic Party to benefit from the procurement processes.
”We remain convinced that there are only two factors that are driving the electoral commissioners on this new register. The first one is the statement made by the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu. He said that if a new register is compiled, the NDC will never come back to power. This a register that brought the NDC in power in 2012 and the NPP to power in 2016. So when you say that a new register will prevent the NDC from coming into power forever and ever,”
”When you talk like this it is clear that you have something sinister up your sleeves and a new register would suppress people who are likely to vote for the NDC. It will disenfranchise a lot of our supporters and that is why they are bent on creating a new register,” Okudzeto Ablakwa said in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday.
”The second factor is the procurement opportunity. Just to engage in another round of procurement which may benefit some people . so these are the two reasons why we think the Electoral Commission is being adamant and refusing to listen to good reason,” Mr. Ablakwa said.
The EC’s decision to introduce a new voters’ register has been met with fierce resistance and criticisms from some political parties as well as civil society organisations raising concerns of cost and timing.
Despite the concerns being raised, the Commission insists the current register is not fit for purpose thus the need for a new one ahead of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections later in December.
