The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has dismissed as baseless, claims made by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is planning to present an unqualified candidate for the upcoming parliamentary by-election in Assin North.
The NPP clarified that it has not yet selected a candidate for the forthcoming by-election, and any such allegation by the NDC is a result of a lack of understanding of the country's electoral laws.
In a statement signed by Richard Ahiagbah, the NPP's Director of Communications, the party said, "The NPP emphatically debunks the allegations that the party 'is in a plot to illegally insert the name of an unqualified NPP Parliamentary Candidate into the Assin North Register.' Over the years, the NPP has worked hard to maintain its enviable position as the pacesetter of multiparty democracy in Ghana, which includes the strengthening of independent democratic institutions of State like the Electoral Commission. As such, we cannot be the party that would engage in any acts that would jeopardize the nation's democratic gains."
The NPP further clarified that they have yet to hold primaries in the Assin North Constituency to select their candidate for the by-election. Therefore, they find it difficult to comprehend how the NDC can determine their candidate in advance and suggest a conspiracy with the Electoral Commission to illegally insert his name into the Assin North register.
The NDC had earlier released a press statement accusing the NPP of collaborating with certain Electoral Commission officials to unlawfully insert the name of Charles Opoku into the Assin North constituency's electoral register.
Sammy Gyamfi, the NDC's National Communications Director, argued that such an act would violate the laws governing the nomination of parliamentary candidates. He cited Regulation 22 of the Public Elections Regulations 2020 (C.I 127), which states that voter transfer can only be conducted for an ordinary citizen at least 42 days before a public election, and transfer applications must be submitted to the Returning Officer responsible for the election.
With the Assin North by-election being less than 42 days away and no Returning Officer appointed yet, the NDC vehemently opposed any attempt to transfer voters into Assin North.
Responding to the constitutional argument raised by the NDC, the NPP claimed that the opposition party lacks an understanding of the electoral laws.
"We wish to educate the NDC on the relevant aspects of the law since they are deficient in their appreciation of Ghana's electoral laws. Their claim that the NPP is seeking to transfer the name of a registered voter to the Assin North register to qualify him to contest in the parliamentary by-election actually betrays the NDC's appreciation of Article 94(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution. Article 94(1)(a) does not require a parliamentary candidate to be registered in the constituency they wish to contest to be viable.
"The Constitution only requires that a candidate be a registered voter; it does not matter where they are registered. The Constitution also requires a candidate to hail from the constituency they are seeking to contest. The two candidates who have filed to contest on the NPP's ticket in the by-election hail from Assin North and have both resided in that constituency for more than the minimum period of five years required by the Constitution," the NPP clarified.
The party further emphasized that, according to the Electoral Commission, the law only requires a candidate to make a statutory declaration of being a registered voter and is not defined by the NDC.
"Unlike the NDC, we are focused on selecting a qualified and capable candidate, one who carries no legal baggage like the NDC's Mr. James Gyakye Quayson, to represent the good people of Assin North," the NPP added.
Recently, the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled that the NDC's Gyakye Quayson held Canadian citizenship at the time of filing his nomination as the party's parliamentary candidate in 2020. As a result, the court declared his election as a member of parliament for Assin North in 2020 as "unconstitutional, null and void." Subsequently, the Clerk of Parliament declared the Assin North seat vacant.
The Electoral Commission has consequently scheduled a by-election in Assin North for June 27, 2023.
Meanwhile, the NDC has expressed its intention to re-present Gyakye Quayson as its candidate for the upcoming election, despite the ongoing criminal proceedings against him related to his 2020 election contest.
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The NPP has labelled the allegations by the NDC as baseless
