Multi-party democracy is the way forward

OVER the weekend delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) convened at the Accra International Trade Fair Centre, to hold a two-day Extra Ordinary National Delegates Conference. The conference dubbed “Reflect, Rebuild and Recapture 2009”, enabled the party to make some amendments to its constitution.

KEY among the amendments was that at end of deliberations, the party settled on five candidates to contest for its falgbeaarship position. Members of the party also agreed to expand its Electoral College which members elect the party’s Presidential candidate and its national executives.

TODAY is of the firm belief that the decision by the NPP to allow five candidates to contest for its Presidential slot is indeed refreshing. That is against the backdrop that during the 2007 election of the party’s flag bearership; as many as 17 people had to contest to lead the party.

AND all of the 17 NPP Presidential aspirants had the wherewithal to dole out a whopping amount of GH¢25,000.00 to enable each of them win the slot. In addition to this, they also run very capital intensive campaigns in their bids to win their party’s Presidential slot.

THE signals that many Ghanaians picked from all these were that our politicians were made up self centered people who are only interested in themselves and not in the welfare of the ordinary Ghanaians who go to the polling stations as early as 12a.m., to vote to elect them. It is sad that politicians in our part of the world continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the toils and hard work of the ordinary people.

WHILST we congratulate the NPP for successfully organizing its delegates’ conference we hope that the other political parties including the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), People’s National Convention (PNC) and the rest will take bold steps to re-strategise and help make Ghana’s democracy vibrant and efficient.

AS the main opposition party, we hope that the NPP will keep the ruling NDC government on its toes by offering constructive criticisms and alternatives regarding how the country’s economy should be improved to better the lot of Ghanaians. They must also endeavour to give government credit where it is due and support efforts at making our economy stronger.

WE would also urge political parties to be tolerant to dissenting views within their ranks. After all that is what democracy is all about. The situation where some party members, because of their positions and influence, tend to be hostile to divergent views must never be promoted, as we strive to strengthen multi-party in this country.

GHANA’s democracy is 17 years old, and although a fledgling one, it has been described by as one of the emerging strong democracies in the world. Many African countries and leaders have drawn inspirations from our infant democracy. And this should spur us on to make our democratic dispensation even better.