PPP Cites EC For Contempt.

Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has sued the Electoral Commission (EC) for contempt after the latter accepted its filing fee last week. The PPP had filed a suit at the Accra High Court seeking an injunction to prevent the EC from receiving the reviewed filing fees for presidential and parliamentary aspirants. The fees have been increased by at least 500%. In this regard the party said the EC’s decision to accept its filing fee, despite the injunction application seeking to prohibit that action, amounted to disrespecting the court. The EC last week accepted the GH¢50,000 filing fee for the PPP presidential hopeful, Papa Kwesi Nduom, explaining that once the party brought the fee despite its own injunction, it had every right to collect and retain same. For the EC to have rejected the fees of other parties, but went on to take the PPP’s, own, the party argued that the EC is in contempt. In its affidavit, the PPP said if it is to satisfy the EC’s demand and qualify to participate in the December presidential and parliamentary elections, it has to “find and deposit with the EC, an amount of GHC2,800,000 which…would be confiscated to the state should [it] fail to secure at least 25 per cent of the presidential votes and 12.5 per cent votes in each constituency parliamentary votes in the general election.”