LAST week, all the four political parties with representation in Parliament kicked against the filing fees announced by the Electoral Commission (EC) for presidential and parliamentary candidates for the December polls.
Their argument was that the GH¢5,000 for presidential candidates and GH¢500 for parliamentary candidates were prohibitive. According to them, the EC was a state-funded institution that did not need the filing fees to run its operations for the December polls.
Another argument against the fees was the fact that the matter had not been discussed by the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
It is ironic and paradoxical that political parties are shouting themselves hoarse over the filing fees when, not too long ago, they had called for more funding for the EC from the government to enable the commission to run effective elections.
We agree that the state has a responsibility to ensure that democracy is in motion in the country, for which reason no impediment should be placed in the way of the political parties, but the EC, as an independent institution, has the right to raise the funds for its operation.
Is it not strange that political parties that demanded between GH¢10,000 and GH¢25,000 from their members seeking to run as presidential candidates of their parties are crying wolf this time round when what is being demanded by the EC is a drop in the ocean compared to what they requested from their own members?
Interestingly, some of these political parties demanded GH¢1,000 from persons seeking their mandate as parliamentary candidates but these parties have surprisingly criticised the GH¢500 being demanded as filing fees from parliamentary candidates.
One of the tenets of democratic governance is respect for the process of consultation. Therefore, the political parties may have a point with regard to their complaints that the EC did not consult them.
However, in so far as the IPAC is not a creation of law but a convenient arrangement by the EC and the political parties, the IPAC cannot be making demands on the EC as of right. After all, what is the locus of the IPAC in determining how much a statutory body can charge for its operations?
The DAILY GRAPHIC would have been the first to throw its weight behind the political parties if the EC had breached any law in coming up with the fees. Certainly, Ghana does not need men of straw to vie for the high office of President and the enviable office of a legislator if that person cannot marshal the monetary resources being demanded by the EC.
The next phase of our democratic governance and economic development requires resourceful people who are capable of leading the assault on poverty, disease and squalor through wealth and job creation.
Such personalities must be capable persons with eyes for the hidden talents of the country to be able to galvanise the people to exploit them. Thus, we need people with entrepreneurial skills and men and women of substance to lead the country.
Another argument that the offices they are seeking are purely sacrificial ones falls flat in the face because we all know that the state guarantees loans for MPs to buy cars and also provides them with accommodation.
Also, the President, apart from being accorded some special privileges and rights, is taken care of by the state, even on retirement. Therefore, what the EC is demanding from the political parties is not beyond the sacrifice every Ghanaian is called upon to make to develop the country.
Our political parties should end this debate and meet the demands of the EC so that we can pursue the serious business of putting forth the appropriate structures in place for peaceful, fair and free elections.
After all, each one of the candidates vying for the high office of the president will get a refund from the EC if he or she is able to garner 25 per cent of the votes at the poll while for the parliamentary poll any candidate who gets twelve-and-half per cent of the votes receives a refund. So what is the hullabaloo about?
Our mantra is that any further distraction will add to the challenges already facing us in the task to conduct yet another landmark election on December 7.
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