The General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia believes the call by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for an overhaul of the current voters’ register is a preconceived agenda to shift blame in the aftermath of the 2016 general elections.
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has maintained that the current voters’register was flawed, thus the need to prepare a new register before next year’s general elections.
The NPP has already begun what it termed “consultative meetings” with other opposition political parties on the need for a new electoral roll as the elections gather momentum.
Reiterating the party’s demand for a credible register for the 2016 elections, the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, explained that per the current voters’ register, the voter population is more than 75 per cent of the total population of the country and observed that it should not be the case.
He argued that the party’s clarion call for a new roll was in the supreme interest of the country’s fledging democracy.
“After the election petition at the Supreme Court, the confidence of the Ghanaian voter in the electoral process has gone down and it is important we all support the Electoral Commission (EC) in raising it,” he said.
But “General Mosquito”, as the NDC General Secretary is affectionately called, said the opposition NPP has realised it would lose the 2016 general elections, it has therefore began preparing the grounds for an excuse to blame its defeat on. Admittedly, he said, though the register used in the 2012 general elections could not be said to be a perfect document, it was however, accurate for now.
He further pointed out that the use of biometric and verification machines in the 2012 elections were all instigated by the opposition NPP, who expressed satisfaction after a demonstration by the EC, prior to the last general elections, and thus wondered why the NPP was still having an axe to grind with the electoral body over the current register.
“NPP did not consider finding solutions to why it suffered a crushing defeat in the 2012 elections but went about speculating that President John Mahama connived with the EC to rig the elections. They even said there was a company which turned the election figures in favour of thePresident,” he stated.
“The issue is that NPP is aware that they have already lost the 2016 elections and so they are looking for a scapegoat to base their defeat on to foment mayhem when they eventually lose the elections. That is the agenda of NPP; all that they are demanding for (new voters’ register) is baseless”, he asserted.
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