Justice V.C.R.A.C Crabbe, a former Supreme Court judge, on Thursday called on all political parties to work together to help the Electoral Commission (EC) to improve the electoral process in the country.<\/p>\n
He said political parties should be honest to the electoral system and ensure that the voter register only has the name of eligible voters and not minors as some parties claimed.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoliticians have to be honest and help avoid some of the electoral problems, they should help clean the voters register by ensuring no minor register as a voter,\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice Crabbe said this at the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) Dialogue Series held in Accra.<\/p>\n
He said all registered voters must also play a role by checking their names when the provisional register is opened for better identification, and also to help clean up the register.<\/p>\n
The NCCE Dialogue, introduced this year, had the theme: \u201cEngage, Educate, Empower,\u201d and it\u2019s aimed at discussing national issues that will empower the citizenry to participate in the processes to sustain Ghana\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n
The topic discussed under the first in the series of the quarterly event was: \u201cBeyond the August 29 Verdict: Lessons and Path Ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Crabbe, together with Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the EC was hosted by Samson Lardy Anyenine, a radio and TV talk show host, who moderated the discussion, centered on the aftermath of the Election Petition.<\/p>\n
Justice Crabbe, who was the first Chairman of the EC, said it was good that the elections results were taken to the court as a means of strengthening \u201cour Constitutions and our democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have to be grateful to the judges for the work they did in interpreting the constitution to resolve the issues. The Constitution is our historical instrument, our political instrument and our legal instrument that contains the aspirations of the people…\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice Crabbe said all the issues that arose from the court verdict as well as the recommendations made by the judges, bordered on administrative issues that emanated from the actions and inactions of humans and not as a result of the law.<\/p>\n
He noted that that was why the judges gave their interpretation and verdict based on the context of each issue raised by the petitioners. \u201cJudges are part of society and they take that into considerations when deciding on a case as important as the election petition\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Crabbe indicated that the issue of the presiding officers not signing the pink sheets was all administrative issues-\u201chuman element\u201d that need not affect or interfere with the constitutional right of the electorates to vote.<\/p>\n
He also appealed to Ghanaians not to confuse persons holding public offices with institutions they work for. \u201cWe should distinguish between a person holding office and the office itself\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Afari-Gyan also agreed that the recommendation of the election petition was mainly on the pink sheets and electoral reforms, and that; the EC was working to ensure all those issues were resolved.<\/p>\n
He said the EC would also liaise with the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to find solutions to some of the issues raised in the recommendations out of the election case.<\/p>\n
Mrs Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of the NCCE said from the discussions, it had become necessary that \u201cwe all play our roles in making sure that we have a credible system\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: GNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Justice V.C.R.A.C Crabbe, a former Supreme Court judge, on Thursday called on all political parties to work together to help the Electoral Commission (EC) to improve the electoral process in the country. He said political parties should be honest to the electoral system and ensure that the voter register only has the name of eligible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n