NPP, NDC kick against IEA suggestion

August 22, 2013 (Page 19)

From left: Tsatsu Tsikata, Philip Addison, Quarshie Idun, Tony Lithur 










Lawyers  for President John Dramani Mahama and the petitioners in the election petition have stated that it is not for the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to determine that the losing party in the petition should not apply for review in the interest of peace.
While lawyers for the petitioners and President Mahama maintained it was not for the IEA to determine the next line of action to be taken after the delivery of the judgement – lawyers for the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), have declined to comment on the matter.
In a statement issued on August 20, 2013, the IEA urged the party that would lose in the petition challenging the legitimacy of President Mahama to refrain from seeking a review in the interest of peace.
But in separate interviews with the Daily Graphic, counsel for President Mahama, Mr Tony Lithur, said, “it is not for the IEA to determine,” and pointed out that, “that decision is for the parties to make.”
For his part, one of the lawyers for the petitioners, Mr Akoto Ampaw, said “the IEA is not a legal authority and not a party in the matter.”
He also stated that the petitioners would await the judgement of the Supreme Court in order to know the next line of action to take.
When reached for their reaction to the IEA statement, lawyers for the EC and the NDC, Mr James Quashie-Idun and Mr Tsatsu Tsikata respectively stated, “no comment.”
In a related development, the National Chairman of the  NPP and one of the petitioners in the case, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, said the issue on whether or not to go for review was not for the petitioners to decide.
He explained that the decision to go to court was determined by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but he and the other petitioners went to court because Article 64 (1) required an individual or individuals  to file a presidential election petition.
In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey, disclosed that he and the presidential candidate of the NPP in the December, 2012 presidential election, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and Dr Mahamadu Bawumia would meet the NEC to officially inform it of what had so far transpired in court.
“After the verdict, the National Executive Council will meet again to decide what next. It is not for me as an individual to state what to do next,” he added.
By Mabel Au Baneseh/Daily Graphic/Ghana