The Electoral Commission (EC) cannot be held responsible for the disqualification of the presidential aspirant for the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the Commission's lawyers have stated.
The EC at a press conference on Monday announced the disqualification of the National Democratic Party's (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and eleven other aspirants including Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Edward Mahama of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Hassan Ayariga of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Madam Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and Dr Henry Herbert Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) citing various anomalies on the nomination forms of their candidates as the reasons.
Lawyers for the NDP on Tuesday wrote to the Commission demanding that, because the EC failed to give their clients enough time to correct the anomalies, "you rescind your purported disqualification, and then instate the names of the party's presidential candidate and her running-mate on the list of candidates for the 2016 Presidential Elections".
Please note that if these demands are not met forthwith and in any event within twenty-fours (24) of this letter, we have our clients' further instructions to institute legal proceedings against you to compel you to meet the aforesaid demands without further notice or recourse for you", they concluded
But in an 11-page response to the NDP's letter, one of the lawyers of the EC, Thaddeus Sory, has indicated that the EC cannot be faulted for her disqualification since she presented her nomination forms a day to the expiry of the nomination period.
“With regard to the non-complaint errors in respect of which our client expressed its inability to accept your client’s nomination papers however, we have been instructed by our client that it was impossible to comply with strict time period specified by rules within which your clients are by law permitted to amend or alter their nomination papers to comply with the requirements of the law regulating same, especially that your clients presented their nomination papers a day to the expiry of the nomination period, although your clients and all candidates were urged to submit their nomination papers as early as possible", his response read.
“In their regard, we must point out that our client does not take over responsibility for correctly filling out nomination papers of candidates only because the law requires the returning officers to draw their attention to statutorily non complaint errorsâ€, he added.