WE NEED PEACEFUL ELECTIONEERING

LAST Wednesday, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) launched its national campaign at the auditorium of the National Theatre amid pomp and pageantry.
The party’s national campaign is to focus on four thematic areas — investment in the people, the creation of jobs, building a stronger economy, as well as the provision of a transparent administration.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), in March, this year, launched its national campaign team at the party’s headquarters in Accra with all the pomp and ceremony of a political party campaign.
The NPP, on the other hand, is to base its national campaign on four thematic areas — the consolidation of democracy, modernisation of the society, structural transformation of the economy and the full engagement of Ghana in the process of regional and continental integration.
The Convention People’s Party (CPP), also in April this year, launched its campaign team at its headquarters in Accra.
The People’s National Convention (PNC), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the other smaller parties have not yet launched their campaign or campaign teams.
What is common in these political activities is that the various political leaders have called for an electioneering devoid of rancour, acrimony and vituperation. The bottom line is that the political leaders are calling for peace.
The December general election will be a watershed in the country’s democratic development and consolidation.
If the electoral process comes off without violence and a rejection of the results, then we would have advanced the consolidation of our nascent democracy.
This country is being held up by the international community as a model when it comes to peaceful elections and it has, since 1992 when we ushered in the Fourth Republic, shown the way.
If we cast our eyes around us, we will find that Ghana has become an oasis of peace within the West African sub-region.
Examples abound of countries in this same region which, some time ago, were beautifully charting the course of democratic governance but have today become strife torn because they did not give peace a chance when it mattered most.
It is because of this that all the stakeholders in the December elections should endeavour to ensure that everything goes right for us to have peaceful elections.
The political parties and their leaders should conduct themselves in a decorous manner that will not bring any strife or conflict during this electioneering.
Our Electoral Commission is known to have done its duty impartially in past elections and we expect nothing short of that.
We will urge the commission to be transparent in whatever it does at this period, have regular consultations and interactions with the political parties so that no one will suspect any foul deal.
Violence, the hallmark of a number of countries in the West African sub-region, is not the preserve of any group of people or country.
When emotions get bruised as a result of cheating, intimidation, circumvention of rules and regulations, when sections or groups of people are denied a level playing ground, they demand redress in various forms and the easiest one which comes handy is violence.
The December elections are seen as very crucial, especially because after eight years of the NPP (2000-2008) and eight years of the NDC (1992-2000), each party is poised to win at all cost. The other political parties are also bent on winning the elections.
The political parties and their supporters should, therefore, be guided by the experiences of neighbouring West African countries which are in political turmoil and help to sustain the peace in the country.