News:
May 20, 2016
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, Kwasi Ameyaw Kyeremeh has urged government to consider changing the non-partisan status of district assemblies in the country.
He argued the current status of assemblies is behind some of the skirmishes which have bedevilled elections of Presiding Members (PM) across the country.
The election of a Presiding Member of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) on May 18 degenerated into confusion as assembly members engaged in a brawl with one another.
The assembly members abandoned the voting process after five rounds of voting failed to produce a clear winner.
The two contestants, Nana Kofi Senya and Nana Adumhene failed to secure the two-thirds majority votes required by the law.
Reacting to the issue on Joy News, Mr Kyeremeh described the fight as unfortunate and something which should not be encouraged in the country.
He asserted, “The bottom-line of all these problems with the assemblies has to do with partisanship”, because “Some people see one candidate as belonging to one political party and vice versa.”
He also argued, “Behind the scene political parties sponsor candidates” to contest assembly positions, therefore, it is important for the country to review the laws.
Commenting on the percentage of votes required for a candidate to be declared a winner, Mr. Kyeremeh called for the current two-thirds majority to be replaced by a simple majority.
He asserted, “If the requirement had been by a simple majority, all the assemblies would have had their Presiding Member by now.”