Constitution silent on replacement of presidential candidates

xBy Ebenezer Hanson
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Freddie Blay, believes it is time the nation took a look at the constitutional silence on how a presidential candidate is to be replaced in the event of death of permanent incapacitation.
“I believe the nation has to look at the gap and fill it by expressly providing for it,” he told Public Agenda in an interview in Parliament.
Notwithstanding the significant Constitutional omission, Hon. Blay was of the view that in the unlikely event of any misfortune preventing a candidate, a political party should be allowed to fill a new candidate. “Anything not disallowed by the Constitution is also permitted by Constitution and therefore it will not be wrong for a new candidate to be filled.”
Articles 57-69 of Chapter eight of the Fourth Republican Constitution provides for the Executive, the qualifications and election of the President, among other things; however there is no provision on what happens in the event of the incident in issue.
A fortnight ago, the Presidential nominees of the various political parties filed their candidatures with the EC and became the recognized Presidential candidates of their respective political parties; some were disqualified though for various reasons.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, National Democratic Congress(NDC); Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Convention People’s Party(CPP); and Dr. Edward Mahama of the People’s National Convention(PNC).
The rest were Mr. Thomas Ward-Brew of Democratic People’s Party (DPP), Mr. Emmanuel Ansah- Antwi, Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), and Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah (Independent).
The Minority Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo/Prampram, Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah shares similar views but short of asking the nation to fill the gap through explicit provisions. He proposes that the parties should be given the opportunity to substitute any candidate whom circumstances will make it practically impossible to contest.
“The Constitution provides for the Vice President to take over in the absence of the President but that provision is not applicable to presidential candidates and their running mates,” he recognizes.
Hon. Prof. Mike Oquaye espouses Hon. Teye’s position saying that since the presidential slot belongs to a party and not the individual, the candidate in question should be substituted. He cited an instance where a parliamentary candidate who died shortly after filing his nomination forms had to be replaced by his wife. Although he acknowledges that was a parliamentary contest he believes the same arrangement could be applied.
Kobina Fosu, a former MP for Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa, was of the view that the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) of the political parties should agree on an arrangement to fill the gap.
“Imagine the chaos that will erupt if a party’s candidate is unable to compete and the party is disallowed from fielding a candidate.” He believes that a convention may even evolve for solving the problem.