Audio By Carbonatix
Spokesperson for an NPP-inspired political movement, Young Patriots, has revealed the judgment as delivered by nine justices of the Supreme Court on who really won the 2012 Presidential Elections has only confused the rank and file of the party.
John Kumah on Multi TV's AM Talk believes the judgment which is divided on contentious issues such as what constitutes over-voting sends confusing signals as to the exact position of the Supreme Court on this electoral irregularity.
In the ruling delivered on the Presidential Election Petition, five of the nine Supreme Court judges are of the view that the definition of over voting as explained by a witness and NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketsia, still holds if elections were to be held today.
The five justices upheld the "classical" definition of over voting as the number of ballots that exceed the number of voters registered at a polling station.
This is as against New Patriotic Party's 2012 Vice-Presidential candidate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s definition of over voting when he was in the dock as a witness for the Petitioners.
He defined it as when the total number of votes in the ballot box is over and above the ballots issued at a specified polling station.
In view of the 29th August judgment, "we don't know", what the position of the Supreme Court is on over-voting, John Kumah stated.
The Young Patriots spokesperson reported that people "say the Supreme Court has left them more confused".
He said ordinary people are uncertain about steps to take to keep the integrity of Ghana's electoral system because of the lack of consensus among the nine judges on some of the irregularities identified by the Petitioners.
He confessed that he is unable to explain the meaning of the judgment to the rank and file of the party because he is also confused about the ruling despite reading the judgment.
In his view, the Supreme Court was best placed to use their ruling to set off important electoral reforms which has been recommended by leading personalities such as Kofi Annan former UN Secretary-General and other civil society groups across the country.
But the highest court of the land "disappointed the country", John Kumah stated.
This is because four decisions, including an electoral roadmap drawn by Justice Dotse, which could have brought reforms are now non-binding because it is a minority position, he noted.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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