The Electoral Commission of Ghana has disqualified 24 parliamentary aspirants from contesting in the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Ashanti Region.
The Electoral Commission’s Ashanti Regional Communications Director of the EC, Mr Serebour Quarcoo confirm the development to Citi News.
He further said candidates who filed on the tickets of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) were not part of those disqualified in the region.
This comes after the Commission on Monday disqualified 13 presidential aspirants from the December polls.
Reports indicate that 240 aspirants who filed their nomination at the close of filing last Friday, only 216 were cleared to represent their respective political parties as parliamentary candidates in the elections.
The 24 aspirants were disqualified because they failed to pay the GHc10,000 filing fee. The EC pegged nomination forms for parliamentary aspirants at GHc10,000, whiles presidential aspirants paid GHc50,000.
There are 47 parliamentary seats in the Ashanti region to be contested for in the 2016 parliamentary elections.
The two major political parties, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are the only political parties to have candidates contesting for all 47 seats.
‘Ayariga’s APC, PPP, PNC others disqualified from 2016 polls’
The Electoral Commission on Monday disqualified Hassan Ayariga’s All People’s Congress (APC), the People’s National Convention’s (PNC) Dr. Edward Mahama, the Progressive People’s Party’s (PPP) Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, and other aspirants from contesting in the December elections.
The Electoral Commission Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, who made the announcement at a news conference, said those disqualified failed to meet the necessary requirements that makes them eligible to contest.
There were different reasons for which each of the parties were disqualified.
‘Protest over disqualification’
Some of the political parties whose candidates were disqualified from the Presidential race have initiated legal actions against the Commission to get it to reverse its decision and instate them in the race.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana