Don�t Force People To Register � Ayariga To Parties

The founder of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, says it is not the responsibility of political parties to call on Ghanaians to register in the ongoing limited voters registration.

According to Mr. Ayariga, it is the duty of the Electoral Commission to do that, and so no political party ought to get involved in creating the awareness. “I don’t think that political parties must get involved in calling on Ghanaians to take part in the limited registration.

It is not the duty of political parties to call on voters to come out and register, it is the Electoral Commission’s duty,” he said. 

“It is not the responsibility of the parties to push people to go and vote. It is a constitutional mandate and that mandate of the duty of the EC, which is to educate people to go and register so they can vote.”

Hassan Ayariga told journalists at a press conference that if political parties force people to register, they could cause chaos in the country. “For instance, if NDC decides to bring a thousand people to register, believing that all these people will vote for them but the people decide to vote for Ayariga’s APC, it could cause chaos.”

The Electoral Commission started the limited voters’ registration yesterday (April 28, 2016). Citi FM’s correspondents reported that the process was generally successful in the various parts of the country, except a few hiccups. The limited voters’ registration exercise is scheduled to last for about two weeks and the EC expects to register 1.2 million people who have turned 18 or are not already registered.