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2020 Elections: Majority Leader Wants EC To Brief Parliament On June 9

Politics 2020 Elections: Majority Leader Wants EC To Brief Parliament On June 9
MAY 29, 2020 LISTEN

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is pushing for the Electoral Commission (EC) to appear before Parliament on June 9 to brief the House on its preparedness for the 2020 general elections, instead of June 16 as earlier requested by the Commission.

“…according to them[EC], they will be able to avail themselves on the 16th [June]. I thought that will be too distant given the issues that are coming up for consideration,” Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said in Parliament.

He added that he is “strongly urging them to avail themselves on the 9th… we've not been able to sort it out even though I am strongly sure they should be here on that day.”

The EC will begin the voter registration exercise in the last week of June 2020.

The commission has outlined its plan for the exercise which is expected to last till July 2020 across 33,367 polling stations.

In line with the law, political parties are to be informed of the exact date not later than 21 days before the start of the exercise after the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) which is currently before Parliament matures.

The Minority in Parliament has been calling on the Commission to appear before the House to provide updates on its plans for the 2020 election.

The Minority caucus is also pushing for the rejection of the Electoral Commission's move to make the Ghana Card and Passport the only forms of identification for registration onto the electoral roll.

Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, filed a motion to compel Parliament to reject the EC's request for such amendments to be made to the laws governing elections in Ghana.

The EC presented the Public Election (Amendment) regulation , 2020 (C.I. 126) to Parliament to amend C.I 91 in order to change the identification requirements passed in 2016.

According to a Notice of Motion filed by Mr. Ayariga, the Bawku Central legislator wants Parliament to reject “the Public Election (Registration of Voters) (Amendments) Regulations 2020 (C.I. 126) pursuant to Article 11 (7) (c) of the Constitution of Ghana 1992.”

— citinewsroom

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