Abraham Amaliba, member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress
Private legal practitioner, lawyer Abraham AmaLiba, has posited that the proposals by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to the Electoral Commission (EC) including, the appointment of the EC chairpersons, are brilliant proposals that must not be ignored.
The NDC among, other proposals, has suggested that Chairpersons of the Electoral Commission (EC) must be appointed after Parliament has approved their nominations.
Currently, the appointment of the Chairperson of the EC is in accordance with the provisions of Article 70 (2) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that “the President shall, acting on the advice of the Council of State, appoint the Chairman, Deputy Chairmen, and other members of the Electoral Commission.”
The NDC has described this process as one that could have partisan influences.
The proposal forms part of the over 30 recommendations for electoral reforms announced by the NDC recently.
It is the argument of the NDC that without parliamentary intervention, candidates appointed may not be qualified to meet the EC’s critical requirements which are; independence, neutrality, credibility, transparency, and competence.
The EC has, however, asked the NDC to table the proposals before IPAC for deliberations.
But Amaliba says the position taken by the EC is not the best.
He insisted that the proposals by the NDC are laudable because the legal backing for IPAC, which they have proposed, would make it an integral part of the EC.
He said IPAC was created to ensure inclusiveness, and at a point when the NPP had boycotted parliament and the EC chair at the timer Afari Gyan thought it wise to have IPAC so all other parties without representation in parliament would contribute to the success of the EC.