Lawyer Tachie Antiedu, a private legal practitioner, has emphasized the importance of expediting parliamentary election petitions in our courts.
He stated that the 2020 presidential election petition and the speed with which it was processed should serve as a model for all parliamentary election petitions to be expedited.
The lawyer stated on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm’s Frontline that the delay in parliamentary elections is unacceptable.
”I am still disappointed that we have not developed a solution for expediting parliamentary election cases. We have rules of court committee mandated by the constitution of Ghana to develop guidelines for a presidential election petition. But for the parliamentary election petition, we are treating it as ordinary litigation.
A parliamentary election petition is special. Every dispute surrounding parliamentary election petitions is special, and we cannot treat them as every other case.”
“If we can use three months to deal with the presidential election petition and reach a decision, the parliamentary election petition should be dealt with in a shorter period,” he said. It is only one constituency that is involved, and it should not be delayed. I strongly believe that all other cases in the relevant courts where these parliamentary election petitions are being heard and dealt with could be suspended to allow the courts to deal with the election petitions.”
He went on to say that if this is done, the appeals process will be sped up and the issues will be resolved.
He was responding to the decision by the court to throw out the petition brought against Jomoro MP Dorcas Toffey.
He described the ruling as sound and commended his judgement as detailed.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
