CITIZENS URGED TO MASSIVELY VOTE "NO" ON THE DECEMBER 17 REFERENDUM DAY.
Lawyer Alifo joins other legal practitioners to Advocates for 'No Vote' in December Referendum.
READ HIS FULL STATEMENT BELOW
THIS IS WHY GHANAIANS MUST VOTE 'NO' IN THE UNNECESSARY REFERENDUM ON DECEMBER 17TH ANAIANS MUST VOTE 'NO' IN THE UNNECESSARY REFERENDUM ON DECEMBER 17TH.
I was one of the Counsel and Researchers for the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) and I led a team of researchers to collect submissions from the general public in the whole of the Volta Region and parts of Ashanti Region on the areas of the 1992 Constitution, which they had imagined must be amended.
From that process, I know, first hand, that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians want our MMDCEs to be elected through universal adult suffrage, but not necessarily on partisan basis. The question of allowing political parties to sponsor candidates for the positions of MMDCEs, Members of Assemblies, and Unit Committees did not even come up at all.
So what we simply want is for all of us, voters in any metropolitan, municipal, or district area to be allowed to vote for whoever the political head of our local government must be, and the President of the Republic must no longer impose these Chief Executives on us. To bring this desire to reality, we do not need a referendum at all. Parliament will only have to amend article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and voila!
But the crucial question is why a referendum is necessary at all on December 17th.
The answer is that somebody {and the NPP govt is the one sponsoring this referendum} wants political parties to now participate in all the district level elections including the election of members of assemblies, unit committees, and Chief Executives if Parliament later amends article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution. (see paragraph 3 above).
In order to involve political parties in the district level elections as described in the preceding paragraph, article 55 (3) of the 1992 Constitution, which prohibits this conduct, has to be amended. This article, unlike 243 (1) is an entrenched provision of the Constitution, and may be amended only through a referendum.
So, clearly, the only reason why we are having a referendum on December 17th is because the NPP government wants all elections at the district level, including members of assemblies, unit committees, and chief executives to be elected on partisan basis. Essentially, the political parties, NPP, NDC, CPP, PPP, etc must now begin to organize multiple primaries at the district levels to select candidates to contest for assemblies, unit committees, and the chief executive positions.
FOR MANY REASONS, THIS IS NOT WHAT GHANAIANS WANT, AND THIS IS WHY WE MUST BE COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO VOTE 'NO' IN THE REFERENDUM.
If 'NO' wins in the referendum we shall preserve the current nonpartisan nature of electing members for the assemblies and unit committees, and chief executives shall also be elected in a similar manner if Parliament amends article 243 (1) (see paragraph 3 above). Then the administration, elections, political, and developmental issues at the local government level shall remain largely nonpartisan.
I HEREBY URGE ALL WHO ARE READING TO VOTE 'NO,' PLEASE.
Eric ƉELANYO Aliƒo.
The recent ndc parliamentary aspirant in the Ho west constituency is asking Ghanaians to vote “No” in the upcoming referendum on Political party participation in District Level Elections.
In his efforts to educate the general public on the upcoming referendum of December 17th, Lawyer Eric Delanyo Alifo, in a simple article on social media clarified the issue for the referendum, and urged for rejection of the question.
READ HIS FULL STATEMENT BELOW
THIS IS WHY GHANAIANS MUST VOTE 'NO' IN THE UNNECESSARY REFERENDUM ON DECEMBER 17TH ANAIANS MUST VOTE 'NO' IN THE UNNECESSARY REFERENDUM ON DECEMBER 17TH.
I was one of the Counsel and Researchers for the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) and I led a team of researchers to collect submissions from the general public in the whole of the Volta Region and parts of Ashanti Region on the areas of the 1992 Constitution, which they had imagined must be amended.
From that process, I know, first hand, that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians want our MMDCEs to be elected through universal adult suffrage, but not necessarily on partisan basis. The question of allowing political parties to sponsor candidates for the positions of MMDCEs, Members of Assemblies, and Unit Committees did not even come up at all.
So what we simply want is for all of us, voters in any metropolitan, municipal, or district area to be allowed to vote for whoever the political head of our local government must be, and the President of the Republic must no longer impose these Chief Executives on us. To bring this desire to reality, we do not need a referendum at all. Parliament will only have to amend article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and voila!
But the crucial question is why a referendum is necessary at all on December 17th.
The answer is that somebody {and the NPP govt is the one sponsoring this referendum} wants political parties to now participate in all the district level elections including the election of members of assemblies, unit committees, and Chief Executives if Parliament later amends article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution. (see paragraph 3 above).
In order to involve political parties in the district level elections as described in the preceding paragraph, article 55 (3) of the 1992 Constitution, which prohibits this conduct, has to be amended. This article, unlike 243 (1) is an entrenched provision of the Constitution, and may be amended only through a referendum.
So, clearly, the only reason why we are having a referendum on December 17th is because the NPP government wants all elections at the district level, including members of assemblies, unit committees, and chief executives to be elected on partisan basis. Essentially, the political parties, NPP, NDC, CPP, PPP, etc must now begin to organize multiple primaries at the district levels to select candidates to contest for assemblies, unit committees, and the chief executive positions.
FOR MANY REASONS, THIS IS NOT WHAT GHANAIANS WANT, AND THIS IS WHY WE MUST BE COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO VOTE 'NO' IN THE REFERENDUM.
If 'NO' wins in the referendum we shall preserve the current nonpartisan nature of electing members for the assemblies and unit committees, and chief executives shall also be elected in a similar manner if Parliament amends article 243 (1) (see paragraph 3 above). Then the administration, elections, political, and developmental issues at the local government level shall remain largely nonpartisan.
I HEREBY URGE ALL WHO ARE READING TO VOTE 'NO,' PLEASE.
Eric ƉELANYO Aliƒo.
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