The largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC), has served notice of boycotting the crucial Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting scheduled for today.
The Electoral Commission (EC) would be expected to brief the political parties on preparations made towards the new voters’ registration exercise.
The representatives of the various political parties and other stakeholders would be divided into two groups to allow for social distancing during the meeting.
But the NDC said the meeting is improperly and illegitimately called, hence its decision not to attend.
Peter Otokunor in an interview yesterday called on the EC to put proper mechanisms in place and organise a legitimate IPAC meeting which decision can be accepted by all the stakeholders involved.
He explained that “the last IPAC meeting which was held on March 25, 2020, we raised various concerns which led to political parties boycotting and we (NDC) walked out.
“That meeting does not constitute a proper IPAC meeting because they had divided one committee into groups– you may want to call it double tracking– to decide on the same issue. “
He said the NDC was of the view that “with any such approach, you are not going to properly appreciate and understand the issue and contributions from various political parties and we believe that, decision making will be problematic.
“So we decided not to participate in that meeting because we raised a question earlier and we are waiting for a response which did not come, so we decided to boycott the meeting because it was not going to serve the purpose for which it was called.”
Mr Otokunor noted that “again, we thought the Commission would have learnt its lessons and now we have been called to another IPAC meeting today with the same arrangement that we are going to have the meeting in two halves with some coming in the morning and some coming in the afternoon.
” We think this is an improper way of organising an IPAC meeting and it gives one the opportunity to perpetrate any mischief at the meeting and we think the NDC cannot be part of that meeting.”
According to the NDC Deputy General Secretary, if the Commission has refused to put in place the proper mechanism to hold a legitimate IPAC meeting where decisions can be accepted by all stakeholders, then NDC officials are not going to participate in today’s meeting and we have since relayed our concerns to the EC again,” he said.
The EC’s decision to compile a new voters’ register has been met with mixed reactions from the political front.
Whereas the NDC and some opposition parties are against the decision, the NPP and other political parties have backed the move.
Regardless of the resistance, the EC has decided to proceed with the exercise but subsequently, put it on hold following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Although the exercise is currently on hold following the COVID-19 pandemic, the EC has served notice that it would observe the necessary safety protocols if the time comes for the registration exercise to commence.
-citifmonline.com
