Progress for constitutional democracy — Prof Azar hails end to delegate system in party primaries

Ghanaian legal scholar and social commentator Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, has welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to end the use of the delegate system in presidential and parliamentary primaries of political parties.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 29, ruled that political parties must allow all registered members in good standing to participate in internal elections.

Reacting to the ruling in a social media post on the same day, Prof. Azar described the decision as a major step towards strengthening Ghana’s constitutional democracy.

"The Supreme Court has brought delegates’ cocoa season to an end. Progress for constitutional democracy," he wrote.

The ruling was delivered in a case filed by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and Dr. Christine Amoako-Nuamah, who challenged the constitutionality of the delegate-based electoral systems used by major political parties.

The plaintiffs, represented by lawyer Oliver Barker-Vormawor, argued that the system limited the participation of ordinary party members and created opportunities for practices such as vote-buying.

They advocated a direct “one member, one vote” system, insisting that every registered party member in good standing should have the opportunity to vote in presidential and parliamentary primaries.

The defendants in the case included the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), Convention People's Party (CPP), the Attorney-General and the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

The Office of the Attorney-General and the NDC supported the challenge by filing arguments in favour of reforms to the delegate system.

By a 5-2 majority decision, the Supreme Court held that political parties can no longer rely on delegates to select their presidential and parliamentary candidates.