The only battle Ato Forson-led minority has won in parliament
The minority has for the first time won a battle in parliament despite having 135 members in the house, due to the Supreme Court ruling on James Gyakye Quayson which prevents him from holding himself as MP.
This comes after the minority was able to unanimously reject the draft Bill of new Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2023.
The controversial Constitutional Instrument (CI) from the Electoral Commission (EC) was seeking to make the Ghana Card the only identification document to be used for voter registration.
From the time the CI was brought before parliament, the minority vowed to resist its passage into law.
Following the appearance of the EC chairperson, the minority said that the EC needed to amend the CI in the interest of all.
The Minority also wanted the EC to reintroduce the guarantor system to the voter registration processes and decentralize it.
Based on this, the first deputy Speaker, in presenting the report of the committee of the whole on behalf of the speaker on March 31, said the committee concluded that “it would not accept and would reject any effort that is geared towards making the EC use the Ghana Card as the ONLY medium to qualify a person who is eligible to vote in 2024 elections.”
He added that this is premised on the fact that indeed Ghana has come of age and can boast of a credible national identification card (Ghana Card) to transact business with. However, even in the face of several identification options given in the past, and even in the operation of the NIA, some citizens are unable to register for the national card due to the existence of serious challenges the Authority is confronted with.
“It is clear that unless and until the challenges confronting the issuance of the Ghana Card are dealt with, using the Ghana Card as the only medium of voter registration, would negatively impact the electoral roll and thereby deny some otherwise qualified persons from registering to vote.”
The house was informed to “officially communicate to the EC of this decision for favourable consideration before finalization and presentation to parliament for passage into law.”
This is a victory for the minority as they have successfully rejected the CI as they initially stated.
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