Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) presidential candidate Dr. Henry Lartey has expressed regret for opposing the main opposition NPP when it took on the Electoral Commission (EC) on various issues including the voters’ register.
“I now understand why Peter Mac Manu [NPP Campaign manager]… was giving the Electoral Commission so much problems,” he told a press conference Thursday.
The GCPP Presidential candidate expressed regret following his disqualification from the 2016 presidential election last Monday. He was one of 12 presidential candidates disqualified for failing to fill his presidential nomination forms correctly.
Announcing his disqualification, chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei accused Dr. Lartey of forging signatures on his presidential nomination forms. She referred him to the police for possible criminal prosecution.
She also explained that personal details of GCPP Vice Presidential candidate were not provided while Dr Lartey failed to obtain the required number of persons to endorse his bid.
At the GCPP’s headquarters at Kaneshie in Accra Thursday, Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey described his disqualification as wrongful in law.
The disappointed but defiant presidential candidate accused the EC of trying to embarrass his party over a “small problem”. The GCPP Presidential candidate explained that he committed his mistakes in his anxiety to fill the over 100-page document.
“All we have to do is to change that. How long would it take to change that…not even one minute,” he said.
He said it was his party’s expectation that if the EC had identified any wrong details, the party would be called upon to effect the needed corrections. But “they did not call us,” he expressed disappointment.
Expressing feelings of betrayal, Dr. Henry Lartey said, “I supported the EC all the time when the NPP was bashing them. Now look at what they have done”.
“I am so saddened”, he said and warned the EC to be very careful not to jeopardise the 2016 general elections.
The NPP has remained a fierce critic of the Electoral Commission accusing it of taking unilateral and intransigent positions on positions such as the party’s demand for a new voters’ register.
GCPP presidential candidate also handed chairperson of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei 24 hours to rescind the decision to disqualify him or face him in court.
A growing number of dissatisfied candidates have indicated they will be heading to court over the decision. They include high-profile candidates, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive Peoples’ Party (PPP) and Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP) who is a former First Lady.
In a scrabble for a crack legal counsel to challenge the ‘shocking’ decision, Dr Henry Lartey has settled for Maurice Ampaw.
“I have a very capable lawyer” he described Maurice Ampaw and vowed to embarrass the EC in court for the showdown.
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