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In a post-mortem analysis of the Limited Biometric Registration Exercise, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has observed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has an unrealistic expectation to be consulted by the Electronic Commission (EC) before it takes a decision.

Director of Elections, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo explained that the NPP is misconstruing the need to be informed with the need to be consulted.

“You cannot expect the Electoral Commission when taking every decision to consult…it is about information, not consultation,” he said on Joy FM Tuesday.

Samuel Ampofo was making his observations on the Limited Biometric Voter Registration exercise which ended last Sunday.

He expressed disappointment in the security services for failing to deal decisively with pockets of violence witnessed during the exercise.

Picking out an example of aggressive behavior by the NPP, Samuel Ampofo said at Sege in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region, the opposition party resisted plans by the EC to deploy equipment for registration.

The EC had planned to return to Sege Presby Primary polling centre to undertake the voters registration exercise, but some residents believed that the EC’s decision could be a plan to re-register people who have already been registered.

Samuel Ofosu Ampofo condemned the attitude of the NPP at Sege. But NPP Director of Elections explained his party’s resistance saying it was not consulted by the EC.

But NDC’s Samuel Ofosu Ampofo explained that the NPP’s misunderstanding of the role of political parties is the cause of this conflict.

He used an instance at the University of Ghana, where extra registration kits were needed to speed up the process.

According to Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the EC did not consult the governing party when it decided to create additional registration centers there.

But the EC provided information to political parties, he said. For the NDC, once it was informed that two more centers had been opened up at the University of Ghana, it deployed its party agents to monitor the center.

“I do not think that the EC consulted us when they were sending two extra kits to Legon…. But the exigencies of the time [demanded that they send more kits]…they are managing the elections”, he said.

Mr. Ampofo noted that the Electoral Commission as an independent body is free to use its own discretion, to take steps to achieve its objectives.

Samuel Ofosu Ampofo indicated that the NPP did not accuse the EC of failing to consult the party when it opened up the extra centers at the University campus.