#2020polls: Call NDC, NPP to find amicable solution to electoral dispute – CSOs to EC

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to summon the key stakeholders in the just-ended presidential and parliamentary elections to “brainstorm and find permanent solutions” to the errors that have emerged from the polls.

The CSOs’ call follows the unacceptance of the results of the 2020 polls by the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In a statement issued by the Coalition on Tuesday, 15 December 2020 and signed by all 16 members, it condemned “all acts of violence and recommend that the security services immediately launch investigations into all reported crimes during the electoral process and, in particular, prosecute perpetrators involved in the recorded pockets of violence which have led to various injuries and deaths.”

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The coalition urged that “any disagreements with the outcome of the election results as declared and gazette should be resolved using the laid down procedures outlined by law and providing the relevant supporting documentation.”

The CSOs reminded the “leaders of the two major political parties to respect and fulfil the pledges they signed in the Presidential Election Peace Pact, which includes not just a commitment to promoting peaceful elections but also a pledge to resort to judicial resolutions to address all election disputes.”

It further encouraged “political parties to tell their members to refrain from any violence, to stay calm, and to follow the laid down procedures provided to challenge the election result.”

It also proposed that: “key stakeholders to the elections should subsequently be convened by the EC to brainstorm and find permanent solutions to the gaps and errors that have emerged during these elections and to update existing electoral laws, policies and procedures with agreed recommendations such that we prevent a future re-occurrence of such challenges.”

The coalition added that: “Speedy resolution of this impasse is vital to maintaining peace as well as justice.”