NDC backs Rawlings’ call for credible register – George Lawson

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it identifies with former President Rawlings’ call for a credible voters’ register ahead of the 2016 elections.

Mr. Rawlings waded into the hullabaloo over the compilation of a new voters’ register when leaders of pro-opposition pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) paid a courtesy call on him at his residence.

The former President said although 2016 is going to be a challenging electoral process, the “stress can be minimized” if various stakeholders ensure the creation of a credible voters’ register.

Mr. Rawlings also said the incumbent NDC administration should have no fears about the proposals for a credible electoral register.“As a sitting government, I think if we feel pretty confident about that register, we should have no fears about doing what needs to be done to win the confidence, to take away doubts ” he said.

Speaking to Citi News on the former President’s assertions, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, George Lawson, said the NDC is never against a credible register, but is only against the NPP’s claims that over seventy thousand Togolese are on the existing register.

Mr. Lawson insists the party’s stance on the issue is not much different from that of former President Rawlings.

“We also talked of a credible register and we are for a credible register. We must try to identify the problems that are associated with the register and then find solutions to them. Since 1972, there have been problems with our register; almost every election year or after an election people raise issues about the register so why don’t we sit down and identify the problems and resolve them.”

“It’s not just about a new register because if there is a new one and then in 2020 there is another problem; are we going to keep compiling new registers? What will make our democracy grow is about finding a lasting solution to the problem and that is our stance” he argued.