The Minority in Parliament has justified its decision to reject the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which was seeking to change the voting day from December 7 to November 7 in every election year.
The Bill, which was submitted by the Electoral Commission (EC), needed the Minority support to obtain the 184 votes required to amend an entrenched clause in the 1992.
The Bill was proposed was to enable governments to use 60 days to prepare for handing over on January 7 after every general elections and not the current 30 days which is believed to be insufficient.
Even though some NDC members
have stated that the NPP MPs voted against it because they were not
ready and possibly habour the fear of losing the elections, Member of
Parliament (MP) for Akuapem South, Osei Bonsu Amoah, who is also
chairman of the Subsidiary Legislative Committee of Parliament, believes
the argument is flawed.
He added that the decision saved not only the EC as a body but Ghana as a whole.
This,
according to him, was due to the fact that it would enable the EC to
prepare well for the elections which is slated for December 7 this year.
He said the passage of the Bill would have put undue pressure on
the EC to conduct the elections and in the process cut corners and possibly jeopardize the credibility of the crucial elections.
For him, the EC was not ready for the elections in November.
He cited shortfalls in the areas of procurement, constitutional and training, which are all yet to be addressed by the EC.
He
indicated that the Constitutional Instrument (CI), which is currently
before Parliament, requires 21 sitting days to mature before it can
become operational
Sources: peacefmonline
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