Political analyst Dr. Kwasi Amakye Boateng has dismissed the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) claim that the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to rerun parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations in the Ablekuma North Constituency sets a bad precedent.
The EC, in a statement dated Wednesday, July 2, announced that fresh elections would be held on Friday, July 11, 2025, following months of dispute between the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the 2024 parliamentary results.
According to the EC, of the 37 polling stations in contention, 18 had verified and approved results, while the remaining 19 lacked proper verification, necessitating a rerun.
The NPP has vehemently rejected the EC’s decision, labeling it unlawful and threatening legal action.
However, the High Court in Accra dismissed an application for an interim injunction filed by the party’s parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie, ruling that the EC is constitutionally mandated to ensure electoral representation and that any delay would disenfranchise constituents.
Reacting to the NPP’s assertion that the rerun could set a dangerous precedent, Dr. Boateng, speaking on Morning Starr with Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Wednesday, July 9, described the argument as weak and unfounded.
“This’s an easier argument to make. When you talk about the State’s inability to maintain law and order, you don’t just limit it to the police. You’re looking at the State, generally. You’re looking at the state. And I don’t want to believe that the state, which at any material moment in time is represented by the government of the state, remains the same all the time.
And generally in political sense we address issues on case-by-case basis.”
He added that elections must be assessed individually and that no two electoral events are exactly the same.
“So two elections may not necessarily have the same pattern, the same behaviour, the same characteristics. What is happening today may not be repeated tomorrow. It doesn’t have to and so that argument is a very easy argument. It has no weight at all. It hasn’t got any weight. The mere fact that we have difficulties in collating the ballots at a particular polling station doesn’t mean that tomorrow one can easily mobilize thugs, go and disrupt the whole procedure. (10:41) And because of that we use what the legal institution uses, a precedent.
The Ablekuma North Constituency has been without a Member of Parliament since the December 2024 elections due to the prolonged dispute.
The Electoral Commission has assured the public that adequate security measures, in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, will be in place to ensure a peaceful and credible rerun on July 11.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
