Press Secretary at the Office of the Vice President, Ama Pratt, has expressed shock over the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) decision to reject the Electoral Commission’s (EC) plan to re-run elections in 19 polling stations in the disputed Ablekuma North parliamentary contest.
According to her, the EC’s decision was a balanced outcome that did not fully favour any of the political parties involved in the protracted impasse.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s New Day show on Thursday, July 4, Ama Pratt said she finds it puzzling that the NPP, having been part of extensive engagements with the EC, now appears unwilling to accept the final resolution.
“I am a little taken aback that now that we seem to be reaching an end, the NPP now says no. Nobody’s request was fully granted, but the EC stayed in the middle,” she said.
She noted that the decision to hold the re-run in only 19 polling stations was reached after months of negotiations, meetings, and even court interventions, stressing that it was the most practical solution to ensure Ablekuma North has representation in Parliament.
“For over six months, a whole constituency has had no voice in Parliament. We can’t let this go. We must appreciate the seriousness of the situation and get this done peacefully so we can move on,” Ama Pratt added.
The Electoral Commission had announced the re-run following disputes over the validity of results from certain polling stations where pink sheets were either destroyed or lacked full verification by EC officials.
Both the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had earlier presented opposing positions, with the NDC calling for a complete re-run across 37 polling stations and the NPP opposing any partial re-run.
The EC, however, opted to maintain results from 18 polling stations that had been duly verified and to re-run elections in 19 others where verification issues arose.
Meanwhile, the opposition NPP insists the EC has no legal authority to order a re-run, vowing to initiate legal action to prevent the exercise slated for Friday, July 11.
