The General Secretary of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah has urged Ghanaians to stop pressurizing the President with calls for a broader consultation among key stakeholders before appointing a new Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC).<\/p>\n
Bernard Mornah opined that \u201cwe are making too much noise,\u201d on the issue saying \u201cupon retirement, Afari Gyan has to be replaced and I think that it is right and fair to allow the president to do what the constitutions says.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”LVyMGsNzWxzLB4vEilZQ8y9ISAZye0Ga”]The current EC Chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, will retire in June 2015.<\/p>\n
Per Ghana\u2019s 1992 Constitution, the President has the power to appoint a successor on the advice of the Council of State.<\/p>\n
Many including the Minority spokesperson on\u00a0Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Joe Osei Owusu<\/strong><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0have thus called for the appointment to be transparent<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Reacting to the calls, PNC General Secretary insists that any attempt to compel the President to extend the consultation beyond the Council of State will be watering down the powers of President Mahama.<\/p>\n \u201cWas that the case when the Chief Justice was appointed by President Kufour? Was that the case when the other commissioners were appointed by President Kufour? Was that the case when the two deputies of the electoral commission were replaced by Mills?\u00a0 Was that the case when the chairman of the National Commission on Civic Education was appointed?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n But the General Secretary of the Progressive People\u2019s Party (PPP) Kofi Asamoah-Siaw disagrees.<\/p>\n He said\u00a0it is only proper that the President at least subjects his nomination to Parliamentary approval saying \u201cwe fully subscribe to the constitutional review commission\u2019s recommendation that we should change the process of appointment of the chairman of the electoral commission to a situation where the president nominates a person and the person appears before parliament for two thirds parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that case we are guaranteed of a general acceptance of the candidacy of anybody that the president will appoint as oppose to the current situation when the president does that with the advice of the Council of State.\u201d<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n