Rejection of Election Bill: I'm disappointed but not surprised - Baako

Parliament’s decision to scupper plans by the Electoral Commission (EC) to bring forward Ghana’s election date was surprising, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako has said.

Parliament on Thursday July 21 voted against the Constitutional Amendment Bill by the EC to move the poll date from December 7 to the first Monday of November in every election year.

A total of 125 MPs voted in favour of the change while 95 decided against it. YES voters could not secure the two-thirds majority required by law to push the proposal through. This year’s elections will, therefore, be held on December 7.

But speaking on Multi TV’s news and current affairs programme Newsfile on Saturday July 23, the New Crusading Guide editor had found the idea to hold the polls early “laudable” having perused the Constitutional Review Committee’s report which made an elaborate analysis in justifying calls for elections in November as well as the report by the Electoral Reform Committee of the EC, which also found it useful holding elections a month earlier than usual.

Mr. Baako also said that given the limited time for transition following the 2000 and 2008 elections, which went into a runoff – with the result that just about seven days remained for preparation of handing over notes after the elections – conducting the election earlier would have been apt.

His disappointment notwithstanding, Mr. Baako said he was not surprised by the outcome since concerns raised in some quarters regarding the preparedness of the election management body for early polls would now be addressed to avoid contentions with the upcoming elections.

“I’m disappointed that at the end of the day we haven’t had the November 7 date triggered into operation for this election. I am disappointed but I am not surprised that it didn’t happen. And on sober reflection, I think perhaps…it is better because maybe it opens up more time and space for the right things to be done so that we do not end up in an election with all sorts of challenges," he stressed.

He said the idea to hold elections earlier than December could be revisited sometime in the future but found “a bit propagandist” interpretations by some political figures that the decision reflected who would win or lose the 2016 elections.