The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers has raised concerns over the legal suit filed by the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) against the Electoral Commission following the disqualification of the party’s presidential candidate, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.
CODEO says the suit that challenges the disqualification Dr. Nduom could delay this year’s elections if the courts do not treat it urgently.
National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Kofi Arhin says although the Electoral Commission has demonstrated its preparedness to hold the crucial elections, the suit could affect the election timeline.
“If the courts don’t expedite action on this [PPP] suit that has been filed against the Commission; if this thing is not handled properly, then it means they [EC] are going to have a drag, then the Commission will have a problem with its timetable,” he said.
With 50 days to go the December 7 polls, CODEO says the focus of all stakeholders of the election must be to work towards a smooth process.
Lawyers for Dr. Nduom have dragged the Commission to the Supreme Court, seeking an order to prohibit the elections management body from placing only four presidential candidates on the ballot paper.
The PPP legal team, led by Ayikoi Otoo is also asking the court to quash the EC’s decision to disqualify the flagbearer of the PPP, Dr. Nduom and reinstate him as one of the candidates for the 2016 elections.
In a suit filed on Friday, the PPP stated emphatically that the Electoral Commission did not only breach the rules of natural justice in its disqualification of Dr. Nduom but also failed to act in accordance with due process of law.
The celebrated business magnate was one of 12 presidential aspirants disqualified the Commission for various acts of fraud, negligence, and irregularities discovered on their nomination forms.
According to the EC, one of Dr. Nduom’s subscribers, Richard Aseda, was accused of flouting sections of CI 94 by endorsing the PPP flagbearer twice – the Central Region and Volta Regions – with different signatures.
Under the law, one person was supposed to have endorsed the flagbearer in each district.
Meanwhile, Mr. Arhin has disclosed that the number of election observers has been increased from 3,000 to 7,000 in this year’s election.
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