Calls For Reforms: EC Is Admitting Errors In Election 2012 - Sir John

General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, says the Electoral Commission�s request for recommendations for electoral reforms pre-supposes that there were flaws in the 2012 elections, contrary to the Supreme Court�s ruling. According to him: �it is welcome news, it pre-supposes that the EC now admits all was not well with the elections [2012], and that contrary to the decision of their Lordship that all was well; they [EC] now admit that there is need for reforms.�� Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Owusu Afriyie expressed hope that the call for recommendations would not be just a cosmetic move by the EC but that suggestions submitted by the political parties will be carried through and not brushed aside. �If political parties are going to make suggestions and are not going to be taken on board, then there will be no point asking for these things if it is only going to be cosmetic.�� He also called on civil society organizations to ensure that an independent and competent person is elected to replace Dr. Afar-Gyan when he retires. �All civil society groups in this country and other political parties [must] also ensure that life is not the same as under this Electoral Commission's administration; the president should listen to political parties and civil society groups, and get somebody who will be truly independent and not just to appoint anybody there without the input of political parties and civil society." The Electoral Commission (EC) has called on all registered political parties in the country to submit proposals for electoral reforms. The call, which was contained in a statement signed by a Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amadu Sulley, said it was in line with calls made during the hearing of the presidential election petition at the Supreme Court. Since the Supreme Court�s judgment on the election petition case, a number of Ghanaians, including former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and other concerned institutions have called for electoral reforms.