Accra, Dec. 10, GNA - The Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) and the Civic Forum Initiative (CFI), on Wednesday, called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to complete the tallying of all the results from the remaining constituencies before declaring the official results. "This will forestall allegations by any of the two parties and their supporters that the Electoral Commission has prematurely declared the results of the presidential election," they said. A statement issued by CFI said there were two scenarios in the December elections.

The first is that any of the two political parties could win the elections in the first round and the second is that there could be a run-off as the NPP and the NDC were running neck-to-neck in both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

It said these scenarios posed both risks and opportunities for Ghana's democratic development, which must be managed properly in order to consolidate peace, stability and national cohesion. The statement added that if any of the parties should reject the first round result because of the narrow margin and consequently resort to mass protest, it will pose a serious threat to peace and security. "The prospect of having the two parties controlling different arms of government is not an outcome we should fear. While such a scenario may be new to Ghanaian democratic politics, it nevertheless offers opportunity for the two parties, who find themselves in such a situation, to begin thinking and working seriously in the interest of the Ghanaian nation and not for their party members", it added. It therefore called on Ghanaians to be patient and wait for the Electoral Commission to do its work thoroughly and transparently, as the full results and implications of the December 7 elections unfold.