Professor Baffour Agyemang-Duah, a co-founder of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), maintained that IPAC must be revived even though it is not a constitutional body with the authority to make enforceable judgments when speaking on TV3's Ghana Tonight on Monday, August 8.
His request follows responses to the EC's decision to only accept national identity cards as the only documents for registration.
Major stakeholders, including as former Commission Chair Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, claim that the EC's action will aim to deny citizens their right to vote.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition party, has also given notice that it will oppose the change if it is put into effect.
Prof. Agyemang-Duah said in an interview with host Alfred Ocansey that the EC and other significant stakeholders must meet on a common platform to discuss these issues before a decision is made.
He noted that the 1992 elections were the catalyst for the creation of IPAC, which served as a forum to accommodate electoral disagreements until the current administration, led by Jean Adukwei Mensa, appeared to ignore its rulings.
The NDC, one of the two political parties with the potential to win power, is reportedly boycotting the IPAC as we speak, the speaker claimed.
He acknowledged that IPAC is not supported by the constitution, but added, "You have to recognize that in politics, legalities are typically not essential or important."
The IPAC was a common-sense approach to how we will handle our election problems, especially in the absence of lack of unity among political parties, because common sense also has to inform how legalities are applied.
"Now that the IPAC appears to have broken down, I think it is extremely urgent for the EC and other stakeholders to find a way to revive it because some of the difficulties we are having, particularly the mistrust you are talking about, are all coming as a result of a lack of a common platform for these parties to meet with the EC and other stakeholders to start resolving these issues."
A 21-member Eminent Advisory Committee (EAC) was established by the EC in 2019 to improve participation and interactions with the public before the 2020 elections in response to the apparent failure of the IPAC.
