A CASE FOR MANIFESTOS NOW

PARTY politics is about a contest of ideas, hence political parties spend time and resources to craft manifestos detailing how they plan to govern the country if elected.
In an election year, manifestos become very relevant because they guide the electorate to scrutinise the political parties.
It is unfortunate that barely six months to Election 2008, none of the political parties has completed work on its manifesto.
According to our lead story today, the manifestos of the political parties are at different stages of compilation.
Many of the political parties have elected their flag bearers and they are already touring the countryside to set out the strategic direction and outlines of prospective legislation they will put in place should they win the December elections to form the next government.
Our Constitution and development plans provide broad guidelines that can form the basis for the governance of the country. But how these policy issues can be harnessed into concrete actions for the governance of the country can only be captured in a manifesto.
Manifestos offer distinctive platforms for political parties to be identified and held accountable, if voted into power.
Indeed, how the various political parties plan to address unemployment issues, the rising cost of living, health and educational issues, the menace of hawkers in the cities and urban centres, as well as improved wages and salaries for workers, must be clearly spelt out in manifestos to capture the attention of the electorate who are not ready to spend time following the electioneering.
Although various arguments have been raised for and against manifestos, it is essential that the parties speed up work on their working documents before serious politicking begins in September so that the electorate will have the opportunity to separate empty rhetoric from pragmatic and workable policies that can address the concerns of the people.
After four successful general elections, Ghanaians must subject those who seek political office to serious scrutiny to ensure that no politician takes their votes as “a token of participation in the electoral process”.
If the people are offered the opportunity to scrutinise the manifestos of the parties, they will be better informed about the platform offered by all the political parties and cast their ballots in December based on the development options that will better address their concerns.
The media also have a crucial role to play in this regard through a critical analysis of the activities of all the political parties in order to help the electorate to take decisions not based on empty and vain promises.
For, after all, the media have a constitutional duty to hold public office holders and those seeking public office responsible and accountable to the people of Ghana.