EC must abandon creation of constituencies – Political scientist

Dr. Kwesi Jonah

A political scientist, Dr. Kwesi Jonah has called on the Electoral Commission to withdraw the Constitutional Instrument 73 before parliament that would create an additional 45 constituencies.

The decision of the EC to create the constituencies has been met with stiff opposition not only from civil societies such as Center for Democratic Development (CDD) but also from opposition parties such as NPP and PNC.

Speaking at a day's media convention in Takoradi, under the theme “Towards Free, Fair and Peaceful Elections; the role of the media”, the political science lecturer said the fact that previous elections have been peaceful does not guarantee that the upcoming election would also be peaceful.

According to him, there must be total commitment to ensuring that the upcoming elections are peaceful. Dr Jonah added that the absence of bi-partisan support over the creation of the constituencies have the potential of creating chaos in the upcoming election.

Dr. Jonah who delivered a lecture on the role of the civil society Towards Free, Fair and Peaceful Elections” also added that the number of legal suits that have been filed against EC this year alone, is quite alarming. According to him, the increasing number of legal suits against the EC has the potential of stalling the smooth electoral process.

The political science lecturer stated that two major political parties must both be psychologically ready to accept the outcome of the December 7 polls, and not resort to any action that may derail Ghana's peace.

The one-day media convention was organized by the Ghana Journalists Association with support from the United States Embassy, Ghana.