Opposition parties, the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) have described as premature calls by IDEG for an independent investigation into complaints that the current electoral roll is not credible.
General Secretary of the PNC, Bernard Monah said the call by the governance institute will only stampede the Electoral Commission (EC), who he believes are already weighing views on the debate for a new voter register.
Mr Mornah said the EC needs time go through some evidence presented by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on allegations that the current register is bloated.
Also, Deputy Communications Director of the CPP Ernesto Yeboah, says although the EC’s slow-paced approach to the matter is bad for democracy, it is still early days yet to advocate for the establishment of an independent body to look into the matter.
Mr Yeboah said the call by IDEG “clouds the issue and suffocate the real substance of the call (for a new register)”.
IDEG on Tuesday made a call for the establishment of an independent committee to investigate complaints over the credibility of the current voters register.
A fellow of IDEG, Dr. Kwesi Jonah said although preliminary actions by the EC and architects of the call, the NPP, are laudable a decision to change the voter register or otherwise cannot be left to them alone.
However, Bernard Mornah said calling for the establishment of an independent body to look into the matter would be an attempt to usurp the EC’s mandate.
“Except we want to erode the EC of its mandate,” Mr Mornah said.
The NPP has been ratcheting up pressure on the EC to compile a new voters’ register before 2016 elections asserting that, there are names and pictures in the electoral data of both Ghana and Togo.
