The Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi Constituency has said the Electoral Commission (EC) was fortunate to have been notified of the Minority MPs‘ visit to its offices to present a petition.
According to Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, there was no need to have given the EC prior notice to receive a petition adding that their notice was sent out of kindness.
“It is a constitutional body just like CHARAJ, just like any other constitutional body, they are even lucky that we gave them a notice…out of courtesy, we gave them (EC) a notice,” he said.
The South Dayi MP’s comment follows the EC’s response to the Minority in Parliament’s allegation that the outfit deliberately refused to receive their petition.
The legislators, led by the Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu and the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak on Tuesday were unable to present their petition following a miscommunication.
Speaking on the AM Show, Mr Dafeamekpor said on Monday, December 21, “the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu had preceded the walk with a letter, a formal communication from his outfit to the EC.”
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However, in a response from the Commission, it indicated that although the outfit received the notification of the MPs, it got to them rather too late.
According to the EC, it was not given ample time as the letter submitted by the Minority said the walk was scheduled for Tuesday at 10:00 am, but it got to the EC at 10:08 am on the same day, December 22 hence the unfortunate outcome.
The Minority members were prevented from getting access to the EC office by the police, turning into a heated argument between the legislators and the police.
But Mr Dafeamekpor questioned, “is the EC a court of law? Even a court of law allows short notice.”
He described the EC’s inability to receive their petition as “very insulting.”
“To the extent that the Regional Police commander, Kwesi Ofori will tell us that he will not allow us to present a petition to a constitutional body in the Republic of Ghana so he actually blocked our way.
“Are we disputing the elections with bow, arrows and cutlasses? No! that was not the situation?”
He concluded: “They are stampeding the NDC into becoming violent.”