A showdown is expected in Parliament if the Electoral Commission (EC) proceeds to lay its proposed Constitutional Instrument (C. I) without amending it to add other identity documents apart from the Ghana Card as the sole identity document.
Speaking to JoyNews, the Director of Electoral Services of the EC, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe insisted that they will not heed the unanimous decision of Parliament to amend the proposed C.I.
Last week, the Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, told journalists that both NPP and the NDC MPs will come together to kick against the proposed C. I if it is laid without the amendment proposed by Parliament.
Reacting to the recent comment by the EC on the C.I., the Minority Leader noted that “Dr Serebour Quaicoe’s statement is most unfortunate and reckless. It is important to recognise that the Parliament of Ghana is not just a rubber stamp. It is not some dumping ground where you can bring any C.I here and think that they would pass as you wanted.”
According to him, both sides of the House have a dissenting view on the matter hence “he wonders how the EC is going to usurp our legislative authority and have their C.I passed” adding that EC is “just setting a stage for a conflagration which is totally avoidable.”
Although he acknowledged the independence of the EC, Dr Forson insists the EC’s independence does not extend to how Parliament also conducts its business.
“The Electoral Commission is independent, but being independent does not mean you shouldn’t also respect the authority and independence of other arms of government. So what you do in that situation is to avoid a stalemate,” he advised.
The Electoral Commission in September last year, made a move to have the Ghana Card as the sole document for voter registration in the country.
The move agitated the minority group and they subsequently opposed the CI, saying it will disenfranchise voters. But the EC insisted that it will use the Ghana Card for voter registration.
According to the electoral management body, the Ghana Card is the most authentic means of identifying Ghanaians, hence the Commission’s decision to use it in compiling a new database of voters.
