The presidential nominee for the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Dr. Herbert Lartey has described Ghana as a “banana republic”, following his disqualification from the presidential race by the Electoral Commission.
A banana republic in his view, is a country that is deficient of a structured judicial systems. He believes such a system only passes laws carelessly without consensus.
Speaking on the Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News, Dr. Lartey said his disqualification was unconstitutional and an affront to Ghana’s democracy. He alleged that a similar “draconian policy” which sought to ensure Rawlings ‘ continuous stay in power for a long time was adopted during the PNDC era.
“The draconian policy has been put in place which we need to remove because it takes people off the ballot box.
This was done when the PNDC was in power. It was a military government that wanted to see Rawlings stay in power for a long time and they had to use that to protect him. It is a shame that framers of the constitution didn’t really look through it.” Dr. Lartey was disqualified alongside other presidential candidates for the second consecutive time on Thursday.
But Dr. Lartey believes the EC deliberately excluded the GCPP from the race. He further revealed that the party has not suspended its campaign despite the disqualification. “If you go to any democracy, let’s say the UK for instance, when you become a leader of the party and you win the elections, they ask you to go and fill in forms.
“This is a system that actually takes people off the ballot box after you have done all your constituency elections, you have done the regional elections, 10 of it and then you have done your national congress with over 3,000 people coming to witness as delegates and make it worth and you are asked to pay 50,000 and then you taken off the ballot. It is a banana republic that does that. “
Mr. Lartey also suggested a repeal of C. I 94 since in is in his view “it is an unfair system that forces people not to become President.”
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