Filing fees: EC unmoved by tears from political parties

The Electoral Commission has rebuffed claims it fixed an unreasonable filing fees for presidential and parliamentary aspirants lining up for this year's polls.
Director of Communications Eric Dzakpasu said the Commission only followed due process of law in asking aspirants-presidential and parliamentary- to deposit ¢50,000, and ¢10,000 respectively as filing fees for the December polls.
The Commission has come under serious attack from some political parties who believe the filing fees are outrageous.
"You do not need to have financial muscle to contribute your quota to the development of the nation. That is not good enough," strategist with the Convention People's Party Kwabena Bonfeh said shortly after the fees were announced.
The Progressive People’s Party Kofi Asamoah Siaw said "what they are doing is to discourage participation and that is opposed to their core mandate under the constitution. The should revise these figures downwards to at most ¢2,000 for parliamentary aspirants."
It is not only political party reps who are disappointed with the EC for the filing fees it imposed.
A Ghanaian professor with the University of Florida who has a reputation of challenging some of Ghana's landmark cases in court said the EC cannot arrogate to itself the power of taxation it doesn't have.
Prof Stephen Kweku Asare said the ¢50,000 and ¢10,000 announced by the EC is more of an imposition of taxes on the aspirants than a function performed by the election's supervisory institution.
He said the EC has "no power under the Ghana Constitution to impose a performance tax on candidates. It is not part of your remit to discourage so-called "non-serious" candidates anymore than it is your remit to subsidize "serious" candidates."
Prof Asare urged the political parties to proceed to court and challenge the decision by the EC.
But the EC is unfazed. Eric Dzakpasu told Joy News the EC is only conforming to the law.
"What the Commission is doing is in conformity to the law. When you take Regulation 8 of CI 94 it says the Commission shall determine a fee to be filed by the presidential and parliamentary candidates and that is the function we have performed by setting up the fee.
"When you move on to Regulation 45 it says that at the end of the poll when we count all the ballot, for a presidential candidate, if you are able to garner 25% of the valid votes in the country, you come for your money.
"...At the Parliamentary level, if you are able to make 12.5% of the valid votes you come for your money. If this is what you mean by performance tax then it has been set by law as captured in CI 94.
The EC Director of Communications said the candidates who are unable to meet the performance target forfeit the money but the money doesn't come to the EC, it goes into the consolidated funds.

source myjoyonline.com