Ghana’s foremost parties – the opposition New Patriotic Party and the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) – must desist from actions that will plunge the country into chaos as the Electoral Commission prepares to release results from Wednesday’s presidential and parliamentary polls, the chairman of the National Peace Council (NPC), Rev Prof Emmanuel Asante, has cautioned.
The clergyman’s comments come after statements, press conferences and counter-press conferences by the two parties claiming their respective candidates were leading in poll results.
The campaign team of the NDC was first out with a press statement asking its supporters to remain calm while results were released, assuring its faithful the party was coasting to victory.
But the NPP, led by its campaign manager Peter Mac Manu, responded with a press conference urging President John Mahama to concede defeat to Mr Akufo-Addo since their projections from 80 per cent of results in their hands indicated the party had taken a lead that was unassailable lead.
But the NDC shot back, describing the claims of the NPP as “treasonable”, “ridiculous”, and “irresponsible”.
However, in an interview with Class News following the exchanges, Rev Prof Asante advised: “I think that we need to be very circumspect, and by ‘we’ I am talking to the two major political parties, especially the NPP.”
He said the constitution mandates only the EC to call the election adding that Mr Mac Manu would have better served the country asking the NPP’s supporters to wait for certified results than calling the election for his party.
“And then it was also in a very bad taste when the NDC came out with a letter that the president is already winning, even though I understand that they are using that to calm the nerves of their supporters given the provisional results that seemed to be coming,” he added.
“But I think I would want to say to the two major parties: we’ve come this far, we’ve waited for four years and God has graciously enabled us to go these polls peacefully. Let us not do anything to undermine the work of the EC and let us not create a situation that will plunge our country into conflict.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
