Build on Ghana’s good democracy - Chief EU Observer

With six successful elections, which have been described by the international community as credible, the European Union (EU) believes the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana will follow a similar fashion.

The Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission Ghana 2016, Mr Tamas Meszerics, in an interview with the Daily Graphic underscored the need for Ghanaians to continue to build on the success story of multi-party democracy and issues of good governance. 

“The elections represent an opportunity for Ghana to build on what it has achieved in past elections. We very much hope for a peaceful election and one which builds the confidence of all stakeholders,”  he stated.

Asked what Ghana could do to build on its good democracy, Mr Meszerics, who is also a Member of the European Parliament from Hungary, posited that focus could be on an ever more inclusive system of governance, more transparent electoral process and reforms in the electoral process if need be.

In his view, the more transparent and inclusive the process, the less likely would there be eruption of  violence as the  will  of the people was reflected in the outcome.

You cannot compare different democracies

Mr Meszerics, however, pointed out that it was fundamentally misleading to compare democracies, saying, “What is useful is for Ghana to build on its good democracy,” he stated.

He said already, Ghana had had six successful elections and it was on its way to organising the seventh under the Fourth Republican dispensation.

Relatedly, he said it had also experienced two transitions where political administration had been handed over from one government to the other.

“It is, therefore, fair to say that Ghana is doing pretty well and like all democracies globally it can be improved upon”. he stated.

He said because of the country’s outstanding credentials in the sub-region, he was optimistic that Ghana would go through the elections peacefully.

“Primarily, I do hope Ghana will live up to expectation and when the elections are over and the results are declared, the outcome will be accepted,” he stated.

He said in his opinion, immediate post elections period were always uncertain anywhere, and urged Ghanaians to engage in more dialogue as well as find working arrangements to mitigate tension and violence.

He indicated that at this point of the electoral process the behaviour of political leaders was very critical, saying  that  “much depends on the political leaders when there are closely fought elections.”

Very honoured

He said he was very honoured to be in Ghana to serve as the Chief Observer of the EU Mission.

“I am fortunate to serve here to observe even the high tension politics, he told the Daily Graphic.

He, however, gave an assurance that the mission would live up to Ghana’s laws, be strictly impartial and share information gathered during the observation.

EU deploys

Already, a core team of European Union (EU) observers arrived in Accra on October 26, 2016. Twenty-four long-term observers have since been deployed across Ghana by the EU to monitor the upcoming December 7 general election. Thirty-two short-term observers will reinforce the mission for the election day itself. The mission will be joined by a team of seven Members of the European Parliament, as well as by representatives of the embassies of the EU in Ghana, bringing the mission’s strength on and around election day to well over 80.

The Observer team will be in the country till January ending if the election enters a second round, but will stay till around Christmas if it ends in one round. They will be assessing whether the elections have been run according to the electoral laws of Ghana and whether they meet international standards.

The EU has been part of the international observer mission that has monitored Ghana's election since 1992.

During the 2012 general election, the Union deployed 24 EU member states to all the 10 regions of Ghana to assess the electoral process against international and regional standards.

This time around, the EU mission will focus their observation not only on the election day but on the entire electoral process, including the results, transmission and the resolution of any election-related dispute after voting has finished.