The European Union (EU) Election Observer
Mission would on Monday, February 27, launch its final report on the 2016
Presidential and Parliamentary elections which was won by the New Patriotic
Party.
Dr Tamas Meszerics, the Head of the EU Election Observer Mission
announced in Tamale on Saturday during a meeting with some civil society
organizations, Northern Regional heads of the National Commission for Civic
Education (NCCE), the Electoral Commission, the GJA and the Northern Regional
Coordinating Council ahead of the official launch of the report in
Accra.
Dr Meszerics commended Ghana for peacefully conducting elections
and urged the country to find ways of appointing future Electoral Commissioners
instead of the Constitutional mandate, where the President exercises the
prerogative.
That he said would eliminate suspicion and perception of the
Commissioner’s political allegiance.
The 40 page report described the
overall conduct of the 2016 elections as transparent, incident-free and free and
fair and expressed hope that there was more room for improvement in future
elections.
The report discussed among other things, the political
background of the country, election administration, voter registration, election
campaign, media and elections, participation of women, election disputes,
results and post-election environment and recommendations.
The report
described the media landscape in Ghana as very vibrant and that though some
media outlets affiliated to some political parties and personalities, it did not
affect the conduct of the elections in anyway.
“Ghana enjoys a vibrant and
pluralistic media landscape, though some concerns arise from media ownership by
politicians, varying standards of journalism and reports of financial influence
exerted on some media professionals…..”, the report said.
The report also
recommended among others the passing of the Right to Information Bill to give
substance to Article 21 of the Constitution and transparency to many aspects of
the elections, establishment of an inclusive Parliamentary mechanism for cross
party involvement in the selection of EC members.
It said the EC members
should be given a reasonable tenure of office to increase stakeholder confidence
to enhance the independence of the body.
Other recommendations included;
possible reduction in nomination deposits particularly for Parliamentary
candidates and possible special dispensation for female candidates to promote
women’s participation in governance.
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