Majority leader, Alban Bagbin is urging bi-partisan support for an amendment to the Constitution to change the election date to November saying Ghanaians demanded it.

“We must support the decision of the people of Ghana, that is what is expected of us. We cannot fail the people of Ghana,” the Nadowli West MP rallied his colleagues at the Thursday sitting.

At a critical vote to decide on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, the Majority leader criticized the Minority for back-tracking.

In a rare situation, the Majority needs the support of the Minority to muster 183 votes needed to pass the bill.

But the Minority has signaled it won’t support the bill because the EC has been sloppy in managing the process.

Although it agrees in principle that the date should be changed to November, the Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu criticized the EC for wasting time.

He alluded to a situation in Kenya in which its parliament used 10 months to debate and pass electoral  before its general elections suggesting that passing an important amendment barely five months to a general election is not good enough.

The Minority believes the EC is not prepared to hold the elections in November. They want the status quo to remain.

But Alban Bagbin has expressed disappointment in the Minority’s intransigence.

“If you are not ready by November 7, you will not be ready by December 7”, he said.

“All the other stakeholders have performed their functions well…. Consultations have been held..it is now the turn of this house to perform our duty”