12.1 C
London
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

NDC Sues EC Over By-Election

Jean Mensa, EC Chairperson

The Ayawaso West Wuogon
Constituency Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC),
Bismark Aborbi-Ayitey, has sued the Electoral Commission (EC) for its decision
to hold a by-election on January 31, 2019, for the vacant parliamentary seat in
the area.

According to the suit filed at
the Supreme Court, the date set out by the EC exceeds the 60-day period
outlined by the 1992 Constitution for organising such by-elections.

He is seeking a declaration by the
apex court that the 31st January 2019 date for the exercise is
inconsistent with and in contravention of Article 112 (5) of the Constitution.

He therefore wants the court to
order the Electoral Commission to organize the by-election before or by January
26, 2019, as against EC’s stipulated January 31, 2019.

Attached to the suit is the
Attorney General as the first defendant.

Article 112 (5) of the 1992
Constitution states: “Whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk to
Parliament shall notify the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days
after becoming aware that the vacancy has occurred; and a by-election shall be
held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred, except that where the
vacancy occurred through the death of a member, the by-election shall be within
sixty days after the occurrence of the vacancy.”

The January 31, 2019 date by
the EC for the by-elections exceeds the 60-day period by about 10 days
following the death of then Member of Parliament (MP) of the area, the late
Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko on November 21, 2018.

The applicant is therefore
seeking an “order of this Honourable Court directed at the 2nd defendant
(EC) to conduct and supervise the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency by-election
not later than the 26th of January 2019, in consonance with the mandatory
constitutional time frame.”

The Ayawaso West Wuogon seat
became vacant on November 21 last year following the demise of Emmanuel
Kyeremanteng Agyarko who then occupied it.

His wife, Lydia Seyram Alhassan
over the weekend filed her nomination at the Electoral Commission to contest
the seat of her late husband.

She is running on the ticket of
the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and is set to face opposition from the candidate
of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Delali Brempong, in the upcoming
by-election slated for January 31, 2019.

She indicated that she has the desire of continuing with the developmental projects started by her late husband, which include the completion of a district hospital, rehabilitation of the Santana market and the completion of the Dzorwulu-Abelenkpe road.

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

قالب وردپرس

Latest news

Related news