The Electoral Commission (EC) has called on political parties which are yet to submit their returns and audited accounts for 2017/218 to do so by the 13th of February.

Mrs Jean Mensa, EC Chairperson, said the Commission had noted that the number of audited accounts received to date fell short of the international standards.

Mrs Mensa made the appeal on Wednesday in a speech read on her behalf at a press conference in Accra.

The press conference was held to outline key decisions taken at the end of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) Meeting.

Present at the meeting were representatives of registered political parties, development partners and a number of civil society organisations (CSOs).

Also, present were senior officers of the Commission.

The deliberations at the meeting centred on the 2018 referendum on the creation of six new regions, the Ayawaso West Wuogon Parliamentary by-election, and the 2019 District Level Elections (DLE) and the referendum on the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

Others are updates on Representative of the People’s Amendment Act (ROPAA), the inspection of offices of political parties and the Level of Compliance by the political parties with respect to their 2017/2018 Audited Accounts.

Mrs Mensa said after the deliberations and discussions, some decisions were reached and adopted by the meeting.

She said that the DLE and the referendum to amend Article 55(3), which would allow for the election of MMDCEs on partisan basis, would be held on the same day.

Mrs Mensa said timelines for the DLE, referendum and related activities would be announced in due course.

“Ahead of the referendum, the EC has drafted a Constitutional Instrument to regulate the referendum. This will be discussed with the Attorney-General’s Department and hopefully laid before this session of Parliament,” she said.

She urged the ROPAA Committee had convened its meeting beginning with the Greater Accra Region.

She said among the stakeholders to be consulted are the political parties, civil society organisations, the clergy, media and traditional authorities.

Mrs Mensa said the Committee would also embark on international consultations to collate views of Ghanaians abroad and to learn from the experiences of other electoral management bodies.

“It is anticipated that the Committee would present a comprehensive report for the Commission by the end of May 2019,” Mrs Mensa said.

She said the inspection of political party offices would be held in February and March adding that notices have already been served on the political parties.

She said a newspaper notice to that effect has also been published in the Daily Graphic and the Daily Guide newspapers.

On the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary by-election, Mrs Mensa said: “The Commission condemns the violence that took place in the residence of the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)”.

“The Commission entreats political parties to work to address the issue of vigilantes within their respective political parties to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.

Mrs Mensa said during the recent by-election, it was noted that the security officers could have better handled the clashes which occurred in the home of the NDC Candidate.

Source: GNA