The presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention for the 2012 elections, Hassan Ayariga has blamed the ruling National Democratic Congress and the opposition New Patriotic Party for the current brouhaha on the voters’ register.
The NPP is demanding a new voters’ register claiming that the current register compiled in 2012 is bloated with minors and foreigners. According to the NPP, the Electoral Commission must change the current register to make the 2016 elections credible.
But the NDC contends that it is not necessary to compile a new register, stating that the current register must be maintained and cleansed ahead of next year’s election.
Speaking at a stakeholders' forum on the electoral register held Thursday at the Alisa Hotel in Accra Thursday, Ayariga stated that allegations of foreigners on the register made by the NPP must be subjected to strict proof.
According to him, it would be unwise to compile a new register when existing mechanisms which can be used to make the voters’ register credible have not been exhausted.
He stated that both the NDC and the NPP are responsible for minors and foreigners on the register, adding that until the political parties abstain from engaging in electoral fraud there would always be issues with the voters’ register.
Present at the Forum were representatives from the various Political Parties including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), ,[Progressive People's Party (PPP), Convention People's Party (CPP), People's National Convention (PNC), National Democratic Party (NDP).
Others were EGLE Party, Yes People's Party (YPP), Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD), Great Consolidated People's Party (GCPP), Democratic People's Party (DPP), Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Independent People's Party (IPP) and United Front Party (UFP).