John Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has stated that Ghana’s democracy is not only about voting every 4 years.
According to him, Ghana’s democracy includes everything that emerges between election periods so that citizens can participate fully in the democratic process.
“We believe that Democracy is not just about elections every 4 years. It has everything to do with what happens between the election. That is citizen’s participation. We citizens have to contribute our quota in building elections.”
John Asiedu Nketiah
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah explained that without citizens, democratic institutions may not be able to function properly. According to him, there must be citizens’ awareness regarding the democratic process as well as avenues for citizens to contribute.
Consequently, he noted that the NDC’s primary drive as corporate citizens and as individual citizens of Ghana, is to contribute towards the betterment of the country’s democracy.
Addressing NDC’s recent reform proposals, the General Secretary pointed out that some of the proposals presented to the Electoral Commission (EC) are just reminders to stakeholders of what NDC has discussed and agreed upon with them. As such, he averred that some of the reforms are not new and so the NDC cannot claim entire ownership.
However, Mr. Nketiah further mentioned that there are other parts of the proposed reforms that are new. The new part, according to him, is what the Interparty Advisory Committee (IPAC) described as flagship recommendations.
Mr. Nketiah reiterated that the NDC’s aim to build democracy remains unchanged, irrespective of the tags on the proposed reforms.
Speaking on an Accra based TV station, the General Secretary disclosed that one of the party’s new proposals is the need to have a separate body in addition to EC. This new body, he said, will register and regulate political parties to ensure that they adhere to the laws that govern them.
Moreover, Mr. Nketiah indicated that both the 1992 Constitution and the Electoral Commission Act require the EC to conduct free and fair elections. Also, he noted that the EC is charged with the responsibility to register and regulate political parties.
The General Secretary further stated that in terms of performing both responsibilities, the EC plays a subservient role with the registration and regulation of political parties. This, according to him, is the reason why the NDC is calling for a different entity that will mainly focus on the registration and regulation of political parties.
“Best experiences have shown that in other countries there is a different body that registers and regulates political parties that is different from the body that conducts elections and we think that it will be neater to do that in Ghana”.
John Asiedu Nketiah
Additionally, the General Secretary of NDC explained that the party’s quest for a separate institution also aims at resolving controversies associated with the filing of electoral nominations with the EC. He described the controversies as unnecessary distractions to the Electoral Commission.
John Asiedu Nketiah indicated that the existence of a different regulatory body would absorb EC from the blames associated with the accusations and disqualification disagreements that arise during the nomination of candidates.
He explained that through the registration and regulatory body, political parties will have prior-knowledge about whether they qualify or not for nomination, before the elections are conducted.
Still on the proposed reforms, the General Secretary disclosed that the NDC has held essential meetings with the EC and other stakeholders. He further disclosed that the party’s petition for a distinct body to register and regulate political parties is not to push an exclusive interest of the NDC. Rather, it’s their contribution to the improvement of Ghana’s democracy.
According to him, a recent communique issued even recommends that the separate registration and regulatory body should also be a commission.
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