The National Democratic Congress, (NDhas opened nominations for prospective Parliamentary Candidates for 2020 general election.
At news conference, the general Secretary of The Party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said 10-12 July, 2019 is set for the picking of forms at the cost of 2,000 nonrefundable.
Details are below:
Parliamentary
schedule:
1. Picking of forms 10-12 July
2. Filing of forms 18-19 July
3. Vetting 24-25 July
4. Petitions. 26-27 July
5. Appeals. 29-31 July
6. Notice of poll at constituency offices
7. Election day. 24 August
Picking of forms GHS2,000
Filing fee GHS25,000. GHS12,500 for female aspirants and persons with disaility.
GUIDELINES FOR THE ELECTION OF NDC PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES FOR THE
2020 ELECTIONS
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
These guidelines are designed to guide the conduct of competitive democratic elections for the selection of parliamentary candidates for the 2020 General Elections pursuant to the 1992 Constitution and Article 40 and 41 of the NDC Constitution.
A. The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
B. The election of parliamentary candidates for the party shall be in accordance with the provision of NDC Constitution.
C. The election of the parliamentary candidate shall be held at a venue within the Constituency.
D. The National Executive Committee (NEC) shall notify each Constituency
E. Executive Committee when to open nominations for the primaries to be held for the purpose of electing the parliamentary candidate for the party to contest the 2020 elections, for each constituency.
F. The Constituency Executive Committee shall circulate the notice to every Polling Division within seven days after receipt of the Notice and shall invite nominations from prospective candidates.
G. Picking of nomination forms shall be opened for a period of three (3) days.
2. QUALIFICATION
A person wishing to contest to be a parliamentary candidate of the party must:
A. Be a citizen of Ghana, who has attained the age of 21 years.
B. Be a card-bearing member of the party who has paid party membership dues in full.
C. Be a known and active member of a branch of the party in a constituency, for at least four (4) years.
D. Not be a member of any other political party.
E. Be qualified in accordance with the 1992 National Constitution to be elected as Member of Parliament.
F. Must not have contested as an independent candidate in the 2016 elections. Any person who contested as an Independent Candidate lost his membership of the Party by reason of that and is therefore not qualified to contest the election by virtue of Article 41.8(b) of the NDC constitution or contested as a candidate for any other political party apart from the NDC.
3. DISQUALIFICATION
A member shall not be qualified to contest and be elected as parliamentary candidate if he/she:
(a) Is disqualified under national electoral laws from contesting for any
Parliamentary seat.
(b) Is not an active member of the party at the constituency level for
Four (4) years immediately preceding the date of filing the nomination
(c) Is for any reason disqualified from being a party member as spelt out under Article 8 of the party’s constitution. For the avoidance of doubt, any person who contested as an Independent Candidate in the 2016 election was in breach of Article 8 of the Constitution and is therefore disqualified from contesting as a Candidate
(d) Fails to meet the requirements for the election of Member of Parliament under Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
4. PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION
A. Notice of election for the parliamentary candidate shall be circulated by the Constituency Executive Committee for at least 40 days before the date of the election at the Constituency office.
B. Nominations for election of the parliamentary candidate shall close at least 30 days before the date set for the elections.
C. All eligible party members desirous of contesting a parliamentary seat shall collect and complete in triplicate, nomination forms from the constituency office upon the payment of Two Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 2,000.00).
D. An eligible party member desirous of contesting but has been denied access to the nomination forms for reasons (which must be stated) from the constituency office, may obtain them from the Regional or National Headquarters.
E. The completed forms in triplicate shall be filed at the constituency office with all necessary attachments, either on the …………………. or ……………….. 2019.
F. Aspirants shall be required to make a non-refundable deposit of Twenty-five Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢25,000) on submission of completed forms;
G. Female aspirants shall be required to make a non-refundable deposit of Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢12,500) on submission of completed forms
H. Aspirants who are Persons with Disabilities shall be required to pay Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢12,500) on submission of completed forms.
5. NOMINATIONS
A. Each contestant must be proposed by one person and seconded by four (4) persons who maybe anyone of the following
B. Current constituency executive of the party
C. Past constituency executive of the party
D. Past regional executive member of the party who hails from the constituency
E. Current national executive member of the party
F. Past national executive member of the party
G. Former / Past MPs’
H. All above persons must be members of good standing in the party.
I. Each prospective candidate shall be endorsed by at least one branch member of the party from all branches in the constituency.
6. VETTING PROCESSES
A. 0n …………………………………. each prospective candidate shall appear before his/her Constituency Executive Committee meeting convened for the purpose of vetting prospective candidates that meet the eligibility criteria of the party.
i. The Constituency Executive Committee, with representatives from the Regional Executive Committee, shall screen and recommend applications of candidates for confirmation by NEC
ii. The Regional Executive Committee shall be represented by two (2) members who shall supervise the selection process. For the avoidance of doubt, no aspirant shall be part of the selection process of any parliamentary candidate.
iii. The NEC shall delegate its powers under Article 41(6) of the party’s constitution, to representatives who shall join the Regional Executive Committee and the Constituency Executive Committee for the purpose of screening prospective candidate
iv. A decision by the NEC not to endorse any of the prospective Candidates during the selection process for any constituency shall be communicated to the Constituency Executive Committee with stated reasons.
B. Any member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) or the Regional Executive Committee who decides to contest for any of the parliamentary seats shall resign his position on the submission of his nomination form to contest the election.
C. Any Member of the Constituency Executive Committee (either elected or Appointed) who wishes to contest the parliamentary election shall resign his/her position upon the submission of his/her nomination form to contest the election.
D. A short listed candidate who wins the primaries by a simple majority of
Votes cast is deemed duly elected as the party’s parliamentary candidate for that constituency.
E. If at the close of nominations only one person files his nomination as the Party’s Parliamentary candidate, he shall be elected unopposed.
7. ELECTORAL COMMITTEE
A. There shall be an Electoral Committee of five (5) constituted by the Constituency Executive Committee to oversee all the activities relating to the elections prior to the Election Day.
B. The membership of the Electoral Committee shall include the Constituency Elections Director and at least one member of the Constituency Executive Committee.
C. Members of the Electoral committee are ineligible to contest in the elections.
D. The Electoral Committee shall liaise with the Electoral Commission in the conduct of the elections.
8. ELECTORAL COLLEGE
A. The Electoral College shall be constituted as follows:
i. Branch Executive Committee Members, both elected and coopted
ii. Every Constituency Executive Committee Member, both elected and co-opted
iii. Member of the Regional Executive Committee, both elected and Coopted, who are members of the branch in the constituency and hail from the constituency
iv. Every member of the national executive committee who is a member of the branch in the constituency
v. Founding Members of the Party who hail from the constituency
vi. Members of National and Regional Council of Elders who hail from the Constituency
vii. Former Ministers of State and former Deputy Ministers who are member of the party and who are members of the branch in the constituency and hail from the constituency
viii. Current and Former Members of Parliament who are members of the party and who are members of the branch in the Constituency and hail from the Constituency
ix. Former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives who are members of the Party and who are members in a branch in the Constituency
x. Former Members of the Council of State who are members of the party and are members of the branch in the Constituency
xi. Former Presidential Staffers who are members of the Party and who are members of a branch in the constituency.
9. VOTING
A. All members whose names appear on the Party’s Delegates list shall be entitled to cast their vote after verification.
B. For purposes of verification, voters are to present the Voters I. D. Card, the Party’s membership card or any other state issued Photo ID Card.
C. Delegates who wish to vote by proxy shall submit their application to the Electoral Committee at least fourteen (14) days before the day of election
D. The Constituency Executive Committee shall make available soft copies of the constituency voters’ register, to all eligible contestants 3 days after the completion of vetting.
E. Voting shall be by secret ballot.
F. Each candidate may appoint an agent to attend and be present at both the time and place of voting and counting of votes.
G. Counting of votes shall be immediately after voting in the presence of agents. The total number of votes for each candidate shall be announced at the polling station.
H. The Elections shall be conducted by the Electoral Commission.
10. EXHIBITION OF THE DELEGATES LIST
The delegate list shall be exhibited after the close of nomination
11. CAMPAIGNING
A. All contestants shall be at liberty to undertake campaigning at all branches of the party without let or hindrance before polling day. For the avoidance of doubt no campaigning is allowed on polling day. Candidates will be held liable for breaches of this provision by members of their campaign teams, particularly if it can be established that they have knowledge of the breaches and they have failed to take the necessary steps to correct, prevent or rectify same.
B. Campaigning shall be based on issues and not on personalities
C. All contestants shall be free to display prominently, their names, posters and other paraphernalia in all areas within the constituency.
12. PUBLIC STATEMENTS, PRESS STATEMENTS AND PUBLIC PRONOUCEMENTS.
(a) No organ, institution branch or structure of the Party shall issue any public or press statements in support of any of the contestants. For the avoidance of doubt, no Party Executive Member (National, Regional and Constituency) or any member of any organ of the Party should issue any public statements or make any public pronouncements which have the effect of committing the support of the whole of that organ, institution, branch or structures of the Party to any contestant.
(b) For the avoidance of doubt, no executive member from the National, Regional and Constituency level shall make any public statement in support of any aspirant.
(c) Any person listed under (a) above who violates or breaches any part of the Code of Conduct above shall be subject to sanctions by NEC upon the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee.
13. ELECTION DAY
On Election Day, all rules governing the conduct of national elections shall apply except as otherwise provided under these guidelines or any subsequent amendments of same.
14. APPEALS
1. Any contestant who feels aggrieved at any time during the election process shall make a formal complaint to the Constituency Electoral Committee.
2. Where the complaint is lodged with the Electoral Committee of the party, the committee shall within two (2) working days consider the complaints brought before it and issue appropriate determinations which shall be complied with by all affected parties.
3. A party dissatisfied with the determination by the Electoral Committee may appeal further to the Regional Executive Committee of the region in which the complaint is made.
4. The decision of NEC shall be final in these matters, after the Regional Executive Committee has failed to resolve the matter.
5. A contestant has three (3) days within which to appeal to the NEC, and the NEC shall determine the petition within three (3) days of receipt of same. For purposes of determining the appeal the NEC shall have an Appeals Committee of 5 members at least one of whom shall be a woman.
15. OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES
Operational guidelines shall be issued which shall be deemed to be part of these guidelines.
Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah
