The Atebubu-Amanten Constituency of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Brong Ahafo Region is to conduct a fresh primary to elect a parliamentary candidate for the party.
This followed a High Court ruling that an earlier election held by the party was null and void.
A Sunyani High Court last Friday ruled in favour of the beleaguered incumbent MP, Emmanuel Owusu Manu, declaring an earlier election in which he lost by 19 votes to the District Chief Executive (DCE), Sanja Nanja, null and void.
The judgment was delivered in default after the Electoral Commission (EC), which was the defendant in the case, failed to appear before the court after several sittings.
The beef of the embattled MP was that the total votes increased by one (from 531 to 532) after counting and therefore he believed that the EC had connived with the DCE to rig the elections.
The development had created tension among party followers in the constituency, as supporters of both men were said to be trading insults.
However, the Constituency Chairman, George Kyere-Mensah, told DAILY GUIDE that the party would not hold fresh elections because it was not joined in the suit.
He said the party polling executives had indicated to him that they would not go back to vote in another fresh election.
According to the NDC chairman, the party in the previous election spent over GH�20,000, and there was no way it could gather such a huge amount to conduct a fresh primary to elect a new parliamentary candidate for the December 7 elections.
Mr Kyere-Mensah indicated that the party executives did not know what to do as the court ruling clearly stated that anyone who held himself as the NDC parliamentary candidate for the constituency would be in contempt of court.
He told DAILY GUIDE that the constituency executives had however consulted some legal luminaries in the region, such as Nana Obiri Boahen, who had explained that the court directives could not affect the party and its parliamentary candidate since it was not joined in the suit, as the EC was not the organiser of the said election.
The NDC chairman said the party would continue to consult other legal brains to inform it on the next line of action.
Also speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the now disputed NDC parliamentary candidate, Sanja Nanja, the DCE for the area, said he did not see why his candidature could be affected by the court ruling.
He said as at the time of the interview, he had not seen any documentary evidence about the said court ruling, describing it as hearsay which he would not rely on.
Mr Nanja confirmed that the NDC was not served with any court writ and could therefore not be bound by its ruling.
Meanwhile, the District Electoral Officer for Atebubu-Amanten, Daniel Kwatia, has explained that the EC failed to appear in court because the commission did not organise the said elections, saying the EC was only invited to supervise it.
He said since the EC was not the organiser of the elections, it could not go ahead to organise a fresh parliamentary primary for the NDC.
He stated that the commission would only supervise a new election if the party got itself ready for it.
<<Print>>