Konadu Rawlings, Akua Donkor Threaten Court Action

Two female presidential aspirants have taken issue with the Electoral Commission over the rejection of their nomination forms to contest the December 2012 presidential election. While Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the flag bearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP), said the rejection of her party�s nomination forms by the EC on Thursday, was not fair, Madam Akua Donkor, the flag bearer of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), said she would sort out the issue with the EC in the law courts on Monday. When asked how she felt about the turn of events, Nana Konadu, at a news conference held by her party in Accra Friday, said her feeling did not matter, but what was important was whether or not the EC was being fair to her and the NDP. She said the issue of the law being fair would come into play whether it was related to elections or otherwise. Addressing the news conference, Dr Josiah Aryeh, Chairman of the NDP, said the EC erred by rejecting the party�s nomination forms. He called on the EC to do the right thing, otherwise the party would be compelled to seek redress in the law courts. He said apart from filing a substantive case on the issue, the NDP would also seek an injunction to restrain the EC from going ahead with the conduct of the December election. Quoting the EC�s own regulations, Dr Aryeh said "the EC's rule clearly stated that those who submitted their nomination forms after the 5 pm deadline will be disqualified." However, he argued that the rule did not say that those who had errors in their forms would be disqualified. According to the NDP, per the EC's own regulations, it was supposed to have accepted the nomination forms of the party, since they were presented on time, and then ask party officials to correct any mistakes, if any, found on them. Citing a similar case that happened to Dr Edward Mahama of the People�s National Convention (PNC) in 2008, Dr Aryeh said although some defects were found on the nomination forms of Dr Mahama, the EC directed him to cure those defects and re-submit his forms long after the lapse of the EC�s officially declared deadline. He said after careful scrutiny of the documents presented to the EC on Thursday, the NDP still could not find any error that the EC was refering to. Dr Aryeh said the EC boss, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, failed to meet officialsof the party Friday in his office to discuss the issue after they had agreed to do so. All those developments, according to Dr Aryeh, were worrying, and it was time the EC cleared the air as the party�s officials had not been told why their forms were rejected. �As party Chairman I am yet to receive any official notification from the EC on why our candidate had been rejected�. Dr Aryeh said the EC should not compel the NDP, an entity which was law abiding and peace loving, to take legal action which was within the party�s remit to do. Article Seven of the EC�s Electoral and Parliamentary Law, Public Elections Regulations, 1996, which deals with nominated candidates states that:- �(1) Whenever the nomination paper and the statutory declaration of a candidate are delivered and the deposit is paid in accordance with these Regulations, the candidate shall be considered to stand nominated, unless proof is given to the satisfaction of the returning officer of the candidate�s death, withdrawal or disqualification�. �(2) The returning officer shall inform a candidate that his nomination is invalid where -� �(a) the particulars of the candidate or the persons subscribing to the nomination paper are not as required by law; or� �(b) the nomination paper is not subscribed to as required by law, and allow the candidate an opportunity to make any amendment or alteration that the candidate considers necessary.� Dr Aryeh said the conduct of the EC contradicted its own regulations and, therefore, asked the EC to do the right thing to maintain its integrity. He said by the size of the NDP, judging from its congress held in Kumasi, �We are a middle front line party comparable to any of the other political parties in Ghana today, and this should persuade the EC to exercise its discretionary power in regulating the conduct of filing flag bearer nominations with the EC. �Presently, our teeming followers nationwide are at their wit�s end as regard the game the EC wants to play with our first ever female nominee as flag bearer of a great party as the NDP�, he said. He added that in the party�s opinion, it was time the EC sought to deepen democracy especially at the time when the NDP had emerged on the political scene with a female as its flag bearer. �In this regard we are calling on the Electoral Commission to accept the nomination forms duly completed by the political parties�, he stated. He pledged the NDP�s commitment to ensure that democracy was deepened and Ghanaians were duly served. For her part, Madam Donkor said she would sue the EC for failing to give her time to complete portions of her nomination forms which she submitted to the commission to contest the December election. Speaking to a section of the press at Kokomlmle in Accra, she said the EC failed to give her ample time to go round the country to solicit for signatures of voters to support her nomination. Madam Donkor, who spoke Akan, questioned how the EC expected me to use just four days to go round the whole country and get her members to endorse the forms. She said she pleaded with the EC on Thursday after she was told her documents were not duly completed, that her people who were to sign the documents were on the way so she should be given a few hours to complete the forms, but the EC refused. However, Madam Donkor said she was not perturbed by her disqualification as the EC could not debar her from forging an alliance with any political party.