General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has indicated that it is not negotiable that the 2020 general elections “must” be held on December 7 this year.
According to him, “the danger and chaos” that would be brought upon the country if the poll is postponed would be dire than what the deadly coronavirus could ever cause.
Speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Angel FM monitored by Ghanawish, on Tuesday morning, John Boadu said the constitution makes no provision for the order of succession should the President, his Vice, his ministers, all his chiefs executive and Parliamentarians be out of office by the night of January 6 2021 and so the whole state machinery would grind to halt; “if that vacuum is created, it would be dangerous than the coronavirus, because it would create a lot of confusion as to the way forward”.
“So it is a must that the election be held on 7th December; we are not the only people in the world; there are a lot of countries with far more cases of the virus than us but have successfully conducted elections by putting in place strict safety protocols to safeguard the voters; Mali has voted, South Korea has voted, Tanzania would vote in October, so I do not see anybody in Ghana opposing the elections on December 7, so the Electoral Commission must employ every means possible for us to vote on that day or the chaos that this country will go through, it will be more than the coronavirus”, he said.
The NPP scribe also noted that, his party still holds its stance that the current voter register is not credible and so cannot be trusted for the upcoming general elections, but it cannot force the Electoral Commission do their bidding apart from proffering suggestions at IPAC meetings and ensuring that as a government, the general elections be held at all cost.
In view of this, John Boadu urged President Akufo Addo and his government to be mindful of the exigencies of the time and consider easing the restrictions on social and public gatherings to allow the Electoral Commission to compile a new voters register and also allow political parties to conduct their primaries and start their electioneering campaigns.
“The President and the government must continue to have it at the back of their minds that, we must vote on December 7 at all cost and so must begin easing the restrictions on social and public congregations, so that the Electoral Commission can go ahead and do its work; the measures must also be relaxed so that political parties can do a bit of campaigning ahead of the elections”, John Boadu added.
