Private legal practitioner, Mr. Dickson Tweneboah-Koduah, has explained that the law requires the Electoral Commission (EC) to give the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) a maximum of ten days to elect a new presidential candidate following the death of its presidential candidate, Madam Akua Donkor.
The lawyer indicated that the law is clear that if, after the close of nomination and balloting, a candidate dies and the period for the general elections is not near, the EC ought to give the party affected ten clear days to elect a new candidate.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, the lawyer quoted Article 50 of the 1992 Constitution and Constitutional Instrument 127 (C.I. 127) to support his argument.
”We have two distinct laws that govern how our elections should be handled. The first is the 1992 Constitution and Constitutional Instrument (CI 127). When you read Article 50 (4) of the Constitution, it indicates that if one of the candidates dies before the closing of nominations before the elections, a further ten days for nominations will be granted. That means the EC must enable the party to elect a replacement for the deceased candidate. So, according to my understanding, the party that lost its candidate will profit from the ten-day period specified by the law. The C.I. 127 also states the same thing that the Constitution does.”
He added it was unclear whether the EC would position the party at number three after enabling them to elect a new candidate, or if a new balloting would be held for the parties to choose different numbers.
He also suggested that the EC would have to halt the printing of the ballot papers for the presidential election following the death of Akua Donkor, who is number three on the ballot paper.
He said although the law was not clear on that, it would be prudent for the EC to halt the process because the one who qualified to contest on the ticket of the party has died.
”It is not always the case that the law provides precise instructions on what should be done. But this is simply plain sense and the right thing to do. The EC must cease the printing of ballot sheets for the presidential election. In this instance, I do not believe the EC will proceed with the printing. This is because the person whose name appears on the ballot paper to be printed is no longer alive, making the printing unnecessary. It would be pointless because deceased people cannot run in an election.
By: rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana