Mosquito shuts Rawlings: Refuses JJ's call for electoral reforms

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has indicated that it is not going to reform or enlarge its electoral college as its founder, Jerry John Rawlings, advised.

The ruling party says it will rather introduce an entirely new form of registration for its members and voting of candidates at primaries.

Former President Jerry John Rawlings over the weekend warned that unless the ruling NDC undertook crucial reforms by enlarging its electoral college, victory for the party in the 2016 elections will be elusive.

“Our party, the NDC, needs some significant reform to face the challenges of the dynamic global political climate. Our current internal structures need to be reviewed. I do not think the necessary reforms required in order to clean up the image of the party are being treated with the urgency they require. If we do not act in cleaning up the party, we will, as I warned before, face a problem in 2016,” he warned.

But speaking in an interview on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ show, General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, popularly known as General Mosquito said instead of reforming, it is going to scrape off the system of Electoral College entirely.

Whiles agreeing in part with some of the former President’s views, he, however, indicated that whether the Electoral College is expanded or reformed, there will still be challenges and candidates who are not satisfied will want to go Independent.

“The issue of candidates going independent will no longer be there because every member in the constituency will be able to vote for the candidate of their choice,” he added.

General Mosquito hinted that the party will very soon introduce “biometric technology” in the registration of its members, to prevent non-party members from taking part in the election of parliamentary candidates during primaries.

“It is an ongoing exercise just that we have not made public…We are totally cancelling the Electoral College system and not reforming or expanding it. If we want to enhance democracy, then we have to scrape it off entirely, especially looking at previous experience. Every party member will now have the right to vote and not delegate. All polling stations will be opened to vote for their respective NDC parliamentary candidates…

One man one vote for every party member... In view of this, we need to register our party members with biometric technology for everyone will be a card bearing member. Very soon, we will conduct registration for our members…with the new system, skirt and blouse will go, Independent candidate will also be no more,” he asserted.