Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has called for Ghana to reconsider the conduct of parliamentary by-elections.
Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, August 30, he argued that political parties should be allowed to internally replace Members of Parliament who are unable to serve their full term, rather than forcing the state into costly and often tense by-elections. "If a constituency voted that we want this person on that political party to represent us in Parliament for four years and if the person passes on or for whatever reason is unable to perform his duties, I think we should allow the party to organise internal elections to replace the person," Mr Braimah said.
He noted that such an arrangement would not only reflect the will of the people who voted for the party but also preserve stability.
According to him, scrapping by-elections would address several challenges that arise during such contests. "It saves the cost, the security issues, and all the tensions that usually surround by-elections," he explained, adding that the current approach tends to heighten mistrust and confrontation between political parties.
