Story: News DESK

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of governance think-tank, Atta Mills Institute, Samuel Koku Anyidoho says giving legal status to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) as proposed by the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will mean a breach in the 1992 Constitution.

According to the former Deputy General Secretary of the opposition NDC, the establishment of the 1992 constitution enjoins the Electoral Commission (EC) to be autonomous in its operations as far as the elections of this country are concerned.

Speaking on Okay FM,  Koku Anyidoho wondered about the essence of giving a legal backing to IPAC which was established based on the administrative decision of Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan who then the Chairman of the EC  with the intention to deepen the democracy and by picking ideas from the political parties that are stakeholders in the electoral process.

He, however, assumed that giving legal backing to IPAC will mean abolishing the establishment of the EC and give power to political parties to organize and supervise elections in the country.

“This has been the status quo since IPAC meetings started. IPAC fighting for legal backing to do what with it? If that should be the case, then we should abolish the establishment of EC and empower IPAC so that the political parties will themselves organize and supervise elections in this country,” he argued.

“ . . we have a 1992 constitution that talks about the independence of the Electoral Commission (EC), and the law is clear that no individual or a body can dictate to the EC to do things in the interest of a particular political party or a group . . . what extent will that legal status erode the 46 of the 1992 constitution? If article 46 has not been revoked from the 1992 constitution, and you are going to give IPAC legal status per whatever instrument, what happens to article 46?”, he wondered.

He was of the view that any attempt to give legal status to IPAC will compel someone to go to court on the basis of article 46 of the 1992 constitution as it will conflict with the provision of the constitution with regard to the mandate of the Electoral Commission (EC).

“Those few political parties cannot go to IPAC meeting to take a decision on behalf of the entire country, and if that should be the case, then all Ghanaians should be allowed to attend the IPAC meetings because not all the political parties sometimes attend the IPAC meetings regularly,” he indicated.