Calls for the change in the date for holding elections in Ghana started in 2016 when the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) pushed for the December 7 day of the month to be changed to November 7.
However, the decision was vehemently opposed by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) who voted against it. For that reason, the NDC say they are justified to equally oppose the current proposal being made by the Electoral Commission (EC).
EC w ants to hold general elections on November 7
The Deputy Director of Elections of the NDC, Tanko Rashid Conputer, has questioned what changed for the NPP to now support a call for the change in the date from December 7 to November 7?
“The NPP vehemently voted against the proposal in 2016. It was proposed in 2016 to change the date, and we needed a constitutional amendment. We needed the MPs to vote on it, and the NPP MPs voted against it, giving reasons for voting against the proposal. That is what we used for the 2020 elections. So, what we are asking now is, what has changed?” he quizzed on Accra-based Citi FM Wednesday, January 24, 2024.
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At the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held Monday, January 22, the NDC’s Director of Elections, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, responded that the NDC was committed to maintaining the current date when the proposal was raised.
Rashid Conputer explained that the EC in 2016 “was trying to experiment with it, and it was a political proposal by all the political parties. The NPP vehemently opposed it at IPAC, and that is why we don’t see the need to change the date now.”
He added that the NDC’s opposition to the proposal is non-negotiable, and it will not rescind it.
“Clearly, we said we are completely against it, and we are not going to support it. We have made that very clear to the EC and the other parties, and this is not an issue we should be discussing right now,” he noted.
