The government has accepted a recommendation to amend the Constitution to guarantee equal voting rights for all members in good standing of registered political parties in the selection of parliamentary and presidential candidates.

Attorney General and Minister for Justice Dominic Ayine announced the decision on Thursday, 30 July, while presenting the government's response to the Constitution Review Committee's report at the Jubilee House.

Mr Ayine said the government had endorsed the Committee's recommendation to amend Article 55 of the 1992 Constitution, a move that comes a day after the Supreme Court ruled that all registered members of political parties should be allowed to participate in their parties' internal elections.

"The Committee recommended an amendment to Article 55 to require every registered political party to afford its members in good standing equal voting rights in the selection of its Parliamentary and Presidential candidates. The Government has accepted this recommendation.

"Just yesterday, the Supreme Court, in the case of Prof. Frimpong Boateng and Others v NPP, NDC and Others, held that all registered members of political parties should be allowed to take part in their internal elections.

"And therefore, on this question, the Committee, the Government, and the Supreme Court now speak with one voice."

The Attorney General said the proposed constitutional amendment would reinforce democratic participation within political parties, arguing that organisations seeking public office should themselves operate on democratic principles.

"Political parties are the vehicles through which we choose those who govern us. They cannot themselves be governed by the few."

Mr Ayine also announced that the government had accepted, in principle, another recommendation to remove responsibility for the registration and regulation of political parties from the Electoral Commission.

Under the proposal, a new independent body would assume those functions, although the government intends to give the institution a different name from that proposed by the Constitution Review Committee.

"Relatedly, the Committee recommended an independent body to register and regulate political parties, in place of the Electoral Commission's current role. The Government accepts this in principle.

"We prefer, however, the designation Political Parties Regulatory Commission to the nomenclature of a 'Registrar and Regulator'."

He said the proposed Political Parties Regulatory Commission would be created through legislation, with Parliament expected to determine its powers and responsibilities.

"The Commission will be established through legislation, and matters such as campaign financing and the proposed Democracy Fund will be addressed in that legislation, providing the flexibility a rapidly evolving field demand."

The recommendations form part of the government's response to proposals submitted by the Constitution Review Committee as part of the ongoing review of the 1992 Constitution. The accepted recommendations will require constitutional amendments and enabling legislation before they can be implemented.