Why FDC will stop LC polls in court

Jul 11, 2006

THE Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is concerned about the nature of the forthcoming local government council elections, in particular linking the decision to go into these elections with the fresh registration (of voters), and then the statement of the president on this election.

By Ogenga Latigo

THE Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is concerned about the nature of the forthcoming local government council elections, in particular linking the decision to go into these elections with the fresh registration (of voters), and then the statement of the president on this election.

They generate two legal confusions, that we as a party have directed that our lawyers explore the possibility of going to court seeking an injunction to stop the Electoral Commission (EC) from holding the elections as they had proposed.

In the first place, there is no basis upon which they are going to register people outside the framework of the Voter Register that is set out in our laws.

Therefore, even if they thought they were acting within their prerogative they didn’t have a legal basis for doing that and we were concerned particularly that the people doing the registration were Local Council (LC) officials many of whom have political biases and we don’t think that is right.

It’s the EC supposed to register voters. And if they wanted non-citizens to vote, then the registration should be directed to non-citizens who don’t appear on the register.

For instance, if this new register that they have created was to be used for elections and I came to vote, what right would they have to stop me from voting? Because I am a registered voter in that area (having voted in the recent presidential and parliamentary elections). They wouldn’t have any right to stop me, and therefore what they were doing (fresh registration) was a recipe for total confusion in the electoral process and these guys like confusion because that is where they do their stupid rigging.

EC incompetent
The EC is what it has always been; a very incompetent body and they do things at the cue of the president. They are saying that for example that non-citizens can stand, under what provisions of the constitution and law can they stand for elective position? Under what provision? In a multiparty system they don’t belong to parties.

Secondly they were saying civil servants should stand, we have not depoliticised these lower councils. Now under what provision of the law would these people stand? I mean, the EC should be a more serious body than this because all these questions have not been answered. So we are going to court to stop them from holding the elections under those terms.

As for our preparedness, even before they were announced, we had already been in the process of reorganising our grassroot structures to prepare them. We have set guidelines, for example, for nomination of candidates, selection of candidates and participation. The FDC party electoral body is handling that now. But you can only go far when the road is clear, and clearly that is our concern.

And probably the president, in telling the EC that cabinet should review recognises some of these real and huge legal gaps and potential legal pitfalls that arise from what the EC is trying to do. If cabinet is going to review this and they are going to come out with a law, we think it’s important that we, as stakeholders in this process, should be consulted.
We hear the president has directed the EC to suspend the elections until the matter is reviewed. If the suspension will enable government to address those concerns, then we will have no cause to go to court. But should that cause still be there, we will go to court.

The Ghana way
We have our own views. For instance, this country can decide to go the Ghana way where the lower councils are non political. They are like development councils and therefore elections to them are based on your ability to contribute to the development process in the community. If they want to depoliticise that, I am sure they wouldn’t find us wanting. We would seriously participate in sensitising the public to the value of doing that. But what we will not allow is that even when it is depoliticised, these guys (NRM) will again use it for their own political ends. That would be unacceptable.

FDC disadvantaged
We are disadvantaged very much because the guys who have big eyes and who can wield opportunities and threats on the people are the LCs, largely who operate as Movement functionaries. But we recognise that and also know that it’s our responsibility to change things around. We do our best through campaigns and even sensitisation of the people to know that even at LC1 it’s important to elect an FDC man, because then when we do our things and we fight for policy positions we are not sabotaged at any level and we speak as one voice throughout the country.

We don’t have candidates to spread out for all the seats across the country. Even during the parliamentary elections we actually lacked people. But you will be surprised; we probably are more able to put people at the lower level provided there are no threats to their life or well-being, and no intimidation.

The writer is the Leader of Opposition and FDC Vice-President

As told to Jude Etyang

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