The Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday stated that nominations for persons intent on contesting the December 7 presidential election will open in September. In its view, therefore, there is no presidential candidate yet and that all the flag bearers, including persons who want to contest the election as independent candidates who have so declared can best be described as aspirants. Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Chairman of the commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan, said, “Our responsibility for now is to call for nominations which will be done in September, and until nominations are opened for all aspirants, whether they are independent or backed by political parties, the responsibility is on the individual to establish himself as a viable and potential candidate.” Dr Afari-Djan was responding to a submission by an independent presidential aspirant, Mr Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, for the EC to issue independent presidential aspirants with provisional certificates of recognition to legitimise them in the eyes of the electorate and governance institutions. The EC Chairman explained that since the EC did not control the various governance institutions, it was the responsibility of every aspirant to work for his or her inclusion in political programmes organised by those institutions. “When nominations are open, aspirants will have to satisfy the constitutional requirements, which are the same for everybody, whether they are independent or the flag bearers of political parties, before a certificate of recognition will be issued declaring them presidential candidates,” the EC boss said. Mr Amoafo-Yeboah had told the Daily Graphic in an interview that though the law allowed for independent candidates, until the EC called for nominations, independent candidates were disadvantaged because they were not allowed to join the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings or participate in political programmes organised by the various governance institutions such as the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The IEA, among other governance institutions, deals with political parties that have representation in Parliament. The independent aspirant said that was not helpful to the provision of a fair playing field and called on the EC to issue provisional certificates to independent aspirants who satisfied initial nomination formalities to be prescribed by the commission. He suggested that pre-nomination formalities could involve getting representatives from each of the 10 regions, showing proof of citizenship and voter registration, inspection of tax certificate, meeting the age requirement, as well as paying initial nomination fees. Mr Amoafo-Yeboah said independent aspirants were very disadvantaged when they were denied their legitimate right to participate in the democratic processes, stressing that that did not make the process free and fair. He said since independent aspirants did not have political party machinery behind them, the deepening democracy could be enhanced if the EC came up with some working arrangement so that such aspirants would look legitimate. He said that would also allay the fears of governance institutions to include them in their programmes. “When the aspirant goes through such a process successfully, he could go about his campaign duties confidently and allow the electorate and citizenry to see him as a serious contender who can contribute to the democratic process of choosing leaders for the nation,” he said. Mr Amoafo-Yeboah said it had been a herculean task trying to fight for inclusion on various platforms and in forums to sell his vision to the nation and educate Ghanaians on their constitutional rights. He said because some governance institutions were denying him the opportunity to put across his message, it had muddled his efforts, since some sections of the society see him as second rate and not worth considering. He, however, said he had made impressive inroads in the rural areas with his message of the "Ghanaian Agenda" which sought to uplift Ghanaians from poverty, squalor and disease. To all that, Dr Afari-Djan summed up that there was no law empowering the commission to issue any provisional certificate of recognition to independent presidential aspirants. Source: Daily Graphic