The Electoral Commission’s appeal to the Supreme Court following the High Court ruling that quashed the disqualification of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) Flagbearer from the Presidential race may not have the desired trickled down effect, a private legal practitioner, Akoto Ampaw, has cautioned.
He has indicated that, it would be wrong for the Commission to assume that a successful application at the Supreme Court would resolve the five other lawsuits it is saddled with, following its disqualification of 12 presidential aspirants.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Ampaw said “it is erroneous for the EC to assume that by sending Nduom’s application to the Supreme Court; the determination would resolve the other pending applications.”
He also explained that, “assuming without admitting the case that was an error on the face of the record by the judge and therefore the Supreme Court were to quash the decision of the high court on that basis, it would not affect the other applications, the other applicants.”
“…So that decision would not be authority enough for the applications that are pending in the High Court, compelling the High Court judges to comply with the Supreme Court decision,” he added.
EC’s legal tussles
Mr. Ampaw’s comments follow his letter to the EC, demanding answers to seven questions following his fears that the election timetable on December 7 may be compromised.
His concerns stem from the Commission’s ongoing legal tussles with political parties whose presidential aspirants were disqualified from participating in the elections because of errors on their nomination forms.
The EC recently decided to head to the Supreme Court to overturn a High Court judgment quashing the disqualification of the PPP’s Flagbearer, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.
It is also fighting lawsuits from the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Independent People’s Party (IPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC).
The parties ostensibly want the court to compell the EC to allow them to correct the mistakes on their presidential nomination forms. The PPP and the All People’s Congress (APC) have been succesfull in that regard.
Allowing parties to correct errors the way foward
Mr. Ampaw contended that, “the only way that the determination in the Supreme Court would resolve all the outer pending applications, is when the Supreme Court dismisses the EC’s application, and the EC then comes to reason and says all of you come and make the correction. But if the EC wants to be combative even if the Supreme Court dismisses its application, it may still continue with the pending applications.”
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