Head of International Relations Desk of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated that the party will not involve the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) in its quest for electoral reforms.

This, he said was because IPAC has diverted from its ways of resolving issues relating to elections.

Alex Segbefia explained that IPAC is supposed to use consensus in solving such issues and not voting. According to him, inviting political parties to vote on such issues is not the accepted means of tackling electoral reform proposals.

“IPAC is supposed to be a consensus-building body and should not open up for political parties to vote. In the past, IPAC will debate on issues until consensus is met but the case is not same now”, he stated.

Speaking with Benjamin Akakpo on Prime Morning on Monday, he said, IPAC was created so that NPP at the time will have a neutral platform to lay its reforms. It was tasked to implement policies based on consensus so that the opposition party will not feel bullied, it yielded good results which transformed Ghana’s elections.

“Before the 2020 election, the NDC forwarded reforms to IPAC where it was a consensus body but transformed into a voting organisation after inviting political parties to vote. That is the problem with IPAC”, he added.

https://youtu.be/AWBYieUzkv8

The Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), was formed in March 1994 to bring together representatives of political parties on monthly basis with members of the Electoral Commission to discuss and build consensus on electoral issues.

In March 2020, NDC boycotted IPAC meeting following the failure to grant the party’s request for the EC to postpone all future meetings indefinitely due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The NDC, after series of consultations, proposed some electoral reforms, which the party believes are geared towards restoring the credibility and integrity of Ghana’s electoral process.

https://youtu.be/oS-oIK3QdGY

However, after delivering the document to the EC headquarters in Accra, the EC directed the opposition party to discuss its proposal before the Interparty Advisory Committee (IPAC)

Reacting to this, Mr. Segbefia stated that the party will not go back to IPAC because it has stopped using the appropriate approach to deal with electoral reforms. However, the party will use its legal team to deal with the issue.