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Dr Pakalitha Mosisili, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG), on Tuesday pledged the support of the group towards the successful conduct of the elections and urged Ghanaians to once more show the world that the democratic level of the country had come of age.
“For Ghana, the 2012 elections represent an opportunity to further enhance the country’s democratic reputation, and I am hoping that as always this year’s elections would be no different”, he said.
Addressing the press on the arrival of a 13-member observer group to monitor the 2012 general elections, Dr Mosisili, said the 2012 elections were crucial for the people of Ghana and called for an electoral process that is transparent, fair, credible and violence free.
He commended the flag bearers of the various political parties for the recent signing of a peace pact in Kumasi, and the numerous calls by Civil Society Organisations (CSO) on the need for peaceful elections.
He said the observer team made up of politicians, members of election management bodies, the judiciary, academia, CSOs, the youth and the media came to Ghana upon an invitation from the Electoral Commission
He said the main objective of the group was to monitor the whole elections and not to play any part in the electoral process.
“Our task as the Commonwealth Observer Group is to consider all the factors impinging on the credibility of the electoral process as a whole, and assess whether the election have been conducted according to the standards for democratic elections to which Ghana has committed itself,” he said.
Dr Mosisili, who is a former Prime Minister of Lesotho, pledged the Group’s readiness to be impartial, objective and independent, adding that any assessment by the Group would be on its own and not that of any member government.
Dr Mosisili said the Group would soon hold talks with a wide range of stakeholders including the Electoral Commission of Ghana, representatives of political parties, CSOs, as well as High Commissions and representatives of other international and national observer groups on the successful monitoring of the elections.
“Prior to the polling day, Commonwealth teams would be deployed to a variety of locations around the country to observe the voting, counting and results process”, he said.
He noted that the Group would coordinate with other observers on the field to maximise their overview of the process adding that an interim statement on the Group observations during the elections would be issued after the whole electoral process and a final report at a later stage which would be presented to the Commonwealth Secretariat.
“These elections are an opportunity to make Ghana, Africa and indeed the Commonwealth proud and on behalf of the people of Ghana, we wish the people of Ghana well”, he said.
Source: GNA