Key Points
- Low trust in the EC drives political parties’ oversight actions.
- Parties’ mistrust leads to extrajudicial measures to protect votes.
- Transparent processes and dialogue could help rebuild public trust.
The public’s lack of confidence in the Electoral Commission (EC) has been linked to electoral wrongdoing by political parties, according to Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, a fellow at CDD-Ghana. Speaking with Samson Lardy on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, he claimed that political parties had taken drastic steps to protect the election process due to a lack of trust in the EC.
Low trust in EC leads to electoral controversies
“As I’ve stated time and time again, it all comes down to trust,” Dr. Osae-Kwapong stated. “The need to preserve the ballot and the election’s integrity stems from a lack of trust, as evidenced by the actions of our political parties during this election process.”
He explained that political parties feel compelled to defend the process because they distrust the EC, citing the controversies surrounding the recall of election results in some seats as a prime example.
“What continues to feed this cycle of trust and mistrust that we see from one election to the next is still a mystery to me,” he said. But in my opinion, the main reason for the current situation is that political parties feel compelled to take part in what I refer to as extrajudicial actions in order to protect themselves against deception.
Political parties see increased vigilance as their sole option for guaranteeing electoral fairness, according to Dr. Osae-Kwapong.
Therefore, the transparent nature of the collation process contributes to the development of confidence in the electoral system if it entails urging their followers to exercise extra caution at polling places and collation centers. But the fundamental problem of trust makes our parties assume that they will be defrauded if they don’t exercise strict supervision,” he stated.
IPAC seen as a potential solution to rebuild trust
Regarding the ongoing recounting of the December 7 polling results in Accra, Dr. Osae-Kwapong advocated for communication as a means of easing tensions.
“It appears that the mistrust is not going anywhere, but the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) is a good platform to reconcile some of these issues,” he said. “To be honest, I’m not sure how to get the parties to begin restoring some of the faith they have lost in the EC.”
As stated by Myjyonline, The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are at odds over the remembrance exercise, and both parties are disputing the findings. In certain places, the situation has resulted in conflicts between party supporters, which have caused property damage and injuries, as well as vandalism of EC offices and other state institutions.
