Zanetor Lauds Ghana's Democratic System

The Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle has lauded Ghana's democratic system stressing it is quite advanced in its management practices.

Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings was Deputy Head of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association British Islands and Mediterranean Region (CPA BIMR) Election Observer Mission in Jersey in the Channel Islands of the United Kingdom over the past week

Asked about her personal impressions of the election experience, she indicated that it was revealing adding it exposed the way democratic governance is applied in several jurisdictions.

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings was part of an eight-member delegation led by Philip Paul, a Jamaican Parliamentarian who was tasked to observe the Jersey elections against international standards, commitments and obligations as well as applicant domestic laws.

Jersey is a Crown dependency with a population of 100,080 located near the coast of Normandy, France. It has a parliamentary democracy with the Queen of England as the official head of state.

The Mission observed political campaigning, electoral administration, voter registration and accessibility, candidate nomination, polling (including postal and pre-polling), counting and tabulation and post-election complaints or appeals.

A preliminary report issued by the Mission on Friday commended the observers for being meticulous and impartial saying, “the 2018 Jersey election was well executed, competitive and enabled the electorate to cast their votes in secret and express their will in a transparent, peaceful and orderly manner."

It, however, added noted that their work was hindered by an electoral system which remains overly complicated and cumbersome.

"Further areas of concern relate to the number of uncontested elections, the disparity in the equality of the vote across districts and parishes and the low voter turnout, which arguably undermines the principle that the elections in Jersey are fully genuine," the Mission said.

The Observer Mission recommended that improvements are needed to tackle the deficiencies in the regulatory framework, particularly in relation to campaign financing, political parties and the process for candidate nomination.”