LET THE AXE FALL NOW (MARCH 2)

Democracy cannot endure in any society without effective political parties. Indeed, multi-partyism is the oxygen of democracy.
All lovers of democracy have obligations towards nurturing multi-party democracy in our society. However, it appears that some of the people at the forefront of multi-party democracy are just paying lip service to moves at entrenching the democratic culture.
That is why some well-meaning citizens expressed apprehension when the idea of state funding of political parties was mooted. To that group of people, the agenda was self-serving, since the personalities agitating for state support were the same drivers of our democratic dispensation.
That school of thought held the view that those who wanted to lead society must be resourceful enough to raise the necessary funding to prosecute an election agenda.
But there is equally a case for state funding of political parties. So far as political parties produce the leaders of the country, the state should be interested in supporting initiatives whose outcome will produce the best leaders for our society.
Nonetheless, the people cannot look on unconcerned when political party leaders break the laws of the land.
The Daily Graphic hesitates in endorsing the moves by the Electoral Commission (EC) to expunge the names of all non-functional political parties in the country from the books because of the failure of the EC in the past to fulfil similar pledges.
Be that as it may, we agree with Mrs Paulina Adobea Dadzawa, a member of the EC, that some political parties only existed in name and went dormant moments after elections, only to spring up during an election year.
Mrs Dadzawa’s frustration had been a familiar tune in the corridors of the EC in the past but little action was taken to get the political parties to conform to the laws of the land.
It is in the interest of the political parties to maintain their presence in the geographical locations as required by the law because this helps in their proper functioning at the grass-root level.
Article 55 Clause 4 of the Constitution states that “Every political party shall have a national character and membership shall not be based on ethnic, religious, regional or other sectional divisions.”
In a democracy, our political parties define our national values and visions when they assume the reins of power. This, then, requires that our parties must have a law-abiding character so that when they win power, they can lead by example.
Very often, the political parties complain of lack of resources to run their affairs. As managers, the leadership of the parties must be able to raise the necessary funding from membership dues and other sources to keep their offices in operation.
Although state funding is not in place now, the state provides some form of support during an election year. This comes in the form of publicity in state-owned media and vehicles. The support can only be improved if the parties are accountable with the little state support.
The Daily Graphic encourages the EC to let the axe fall heavily on political parties that flout the law so that we can set the standards for multi-party democracy to flourish.
If our political parties must cease to exist because they have flouted the laws of the land, so be it. For, the time has come for our society to appreciate the essence of laws and order in our efforts at attaining progress.