Counsel for Electoral Commission was seen running from court to court to defend his client’s controversial decision to disqualify some presidential candidates from the 2016 elections.
With three suits against against the EC being heard Tuesday, its counsel Thadadeus Sory was under pressure to fully and properly represent his client at the Accra High Court.
In the three cases the All People’s Congress (APC) 2016 flagbearer Hassan Ayariga, People’s National Convention (PNC) presidential candidate Dr. Edward Mahama and National Democratic Party (NDP) presidential case Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings are challenging their disqualifications from the race.
Starting with the first case to be called, Thaddeus Sory went to defend the decision to disqualify APC’s Hassan Ayariga.
But he immediately had to dart from court case and to run upstairs for PNC’s case with Edward Mahama.
In the PNC case, Sory was too late to participate in proceedings as the judge told him that in his absence, she granted abridgment of time.
The ruling means the normal court procedures in hearing the court has been shortened to allow the hearing to be decisive quick enough with general elections beckoning in 35 days.
While there for the PNC case, Thaddeus Sory had also instructed his co-counsel Sean Poku to rush to the NDP court and check what is happening. At the PNC case, the EC was fined GHC500 for failing to show up in court for the first hearing.
Thaddeus Sory had no time to waste as he once again rushed to the NDP case where his co-counsel was representing the EC.
But over there he was told by the clerk, the case had been adjourned. He enetered the judge Justice Kyei Baffuor’s chamber to confer.
The only case he was able to participate in fully as the APC’s case where the party’s presidential candidate Hassan Ayariga is praying the court to overturn his disqualification.
