Tema Mantse Calls For Change In Law Of By-Elections

The industrial city King, Dr. Nii Adjei Kraku ll, has bemoaned what he calls a perpetual specter of violence that lurks over the country anytime there is a Parliamentary by-election, proposing that lawmakers come up with legislation to end the vicious cycle.

In an exclusive interview, Nii Tema suggested that the current constitutional arrangement, which mandates that a by-election be held when a sitting MP steps down or kicks the bucket mid-way into a four year tenure, be scrapped.

“Rather, I propose that when a sitting MP leaves his Parliamentary seat before his tenure ends, his party be allowed to maintain the seat till the four-year tenure ends…his party can then organize an internal primary to elect his or her replacement for the rest of the tenure,” Nii Tema proposed.

The Tema Mantse said, a recalibration of the Constitution to give the four year security of tenure to Political parties in respect of Parliamentary seats they win during general elections would be a creative way of ending the perennial violence and tensions that characterize Parliamentary by-elections.

“Not only will it prevent the violence and tensions, it will also be less expensive for the country, less stressful for the Electoral Commission, and easier for the law enforcement agencies to manage,” Dr. Adjei Kraku ll said.

Nii’s call comes in the aftermath of the bloody parliamentary by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon which resulted in the shooting of some 18 people in front of the house of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s candidate for the by-election, Delali Kwasi Brempong.

As a result of the shooting, one victim is said to be a likely candidate for amputation.

“If you consider the fact that this violent by-election follows up on almost every other by-election that we have had – Chereponi, Atiwa, Talensi and Ayawaso west Wuogon by-elections among others – then you begin to see that we need to do something creative about the problem before it gets out of hand,” Nii said.

He pointed out that his proposal cannot be far-fetched because the kind of arrangement that he is talking about already exists at the Presidential level.

Indeed, in the event that a sitting President dies in office, a national by-election is not held to elect a new President. The party in power continues to remain in power with the sitting President’s vice, governing for the rest of the tenure of the deceased President.

This arrangement was followed to the letter when the late President Mills died in office, and the baton of leadership fell on former President John Dramani Mahama.