Towards a successful election 2012: The role of various stakeholders

“Towards a successful election 2012: The role of various Stakeholders”  (A GNA feature by George Larbi)  Koforidua, Oct. 24, GNA - In a little over a month from now, Ghanaians will go to the polls once again to decide who should be the leader of the country and those who go to the legislature to make laws for the country for the next four years. The various political parties have already hit the ground running, with lots of tension across the country. The biometric registration exercise generated so much chaos and violence in various parts of the country and if there are any lessons to learn Ghanaians should start from today. The question which needs to be asked is: "What are we supposed to do as a nation to ensure that this year’s general election does not tear the nation apart?" The answer to this question is simple. All stakeholders including the political parties, the media, law enforcement agencies, the government, the Electoral Commission, and civil society organizations and all others should play their respective roles well to make the election incident free. One thing is clear, that this is not the first time Ghana is going into an election to elect a president and parliamentarians. Already five general elections have gone by without any problem. Ghana had gained a lot of international recognition because of the way we are deepening our democratic principles. It is against this background that it would be important for all stakeholders to play their roles well to make this year’s election successful for the country to achieve another commendation from the international community. From the point of view of the political parties it is an undeniable fact that the success of this year’s election depends on the way they conduct themselves. If  recent developments are anything to go by, then it is time for them to revise their notes well.  Political parties should ensure peaceful electioneering campaigns devoid of intolerance, provocation, and over-reaction to opponents’ views and ideologies. The parties and candidates should focus on issues rather than attack personalities, resort to the use of intemperate language, and ethnocentrism.  Ghanaians should see each other as one people with a common destiny. The parties in this direction should educate their members, especially their communication teams who go on radio and television on how to speak.  Indeed, it will not be out of place to urge political parties to impose some sanctions on their members who use unacceptable language on their opponents. Political parties should not see themselves as enemies but rather opponents in order to sustain the peace the nation is enjoying presently. They should also ensure that they disband all alleged vigilante groups and enforce the Political Parties' Code of Conduct. Again they should ensure that their manifestos reflect the tenets of the 1992 Constitution on the Directive Principles of State Policy. If there is another stakeholder that has a very important role to play in this year’s election, then it is the media. The able men and women in the media fraternity  should be commended for their watchdog role in our society.  It is a fact that since Ghana entered the Fourth Republic,  the role of the media in deepening the country's democratic dispensation cannot be overemphasized. However, some concerns have been raised by well-meaning Ghanaians about the mediocrity, lack of professionalism and lack of balance which sometimes characterize the performance of some media houses, both print and electronic. It is important for the media to be circumspect with their reportage on insults, hate speech and negative propaganda that are spewed out by politicians, and the so-called ‘serial callers’ and political commentators. This development sparked off conflicts and wars in other countries hence the need to avoid using intemperate language on air. It is dangerous for Ghana's fledgling democracy and injurious to the character formation of our youth. Managements of Media houses should therefore apply stringent internal censorship to address these shortcomings. The media should be able to use airtime and space to discuss more useful, profitable and development-oriented issues which can promote peace, before, during, and after the general elections than give that time to politicians to hurl insults on each other. Only when the media operate responsibly will they impact on society positively. One other way to ensure sanity on air is for the radio station owners to equip their stations with delayed transmission devices to help cut out vulgar language and negative contributions from serial callers, especially those who appear to have a fixed political agenda. The way the two leading parties, the ruling National Democratic Congress and the opposition New Patriotic Party have positioned themselves is not the best, and it is important for the media to be careful of manipulation from politicians. In societies where there is heightened political tension, media practitioners can easily buy into the agenda of politicians, who invariably are the source of events leading to conflicts in society today. In the 2008 presidential run-off, for instance, a popular radio station in Accra raised tension to boiling point by asking the members of a certain political party to arm themselves and marched to the Electoral Commission, ostensibly, to protect the vote of that political party. The tension created by a group of young men and women armed with all manner of offensive weapons besieging the Electoral Commission, only needed a spark from the other side of the political divide to ignite a huge flame to consume everything in its way. The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the National Media Commission (NMC) should see to maintain order in the media houses before they do irreparable damage to the country.  One important step that needs to be taken is the strengthening of the powers of the NMC in order to regulate the media landscape effectively. The Electoral Commission (EC) is considered as the referee of elections in this country, and as already stated earlier, this is not the first time the EC is going to conduct elections of this magnitude in Ghana. It has made a name for itself since 1992 across the African continent. The EC should bear it in mind that the success or failure of the impending election largely depends on it. What happened in the district assembly elections in 2010 which some people termed as “tot tot” should not be repeated in this year’s general election. The EC should create a level playing field for all political parties to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in December. The Commission should also come out and explain some of the electoral laws to the general public, especially on issues like who is an “ordinary resident”. This created so much confusion and tension in the just-ended biometric registration exercise. The EC, again, should ensure that the recent creation of additional constituencies is not done to favour any particular political party. Furthermore, it should not hesitate to let Ghanaians know the challenges the Commission is going through. This is because Ghanaians will not accept any excuse from the EC should the election fail to meet their expectations. Reports of breaking down of registration equipment during the biometric registration exercise should be a wake up call to the EC if the verification machines will be used in December. The Commission should not hesitate to discipline any of its staff who identifies himself or herself with a political party in order to maintain its hard won credibility. The EC should collaborate effectively with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and political parties to educate party agents on their rights and responsibilities. Also, the EC should also intensify voter education on the verification process; liaise with security agencies to guarantee the security of the entire electoral process. One other issue which needs to be addressed by the EC is the omission of some electoral areas in the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 78 which was passed into law recently. The law enforcement agencies including the police should live up to expectation and deal with people who would try to foment trouble irrespective of their political affiliation.  They should not be seen as agents for a particular political party. What happened at Akwatia, Chereponi, and Atiwa where no one was arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others, despite the level of impunity that took place there, does not speak well of the security agencies, especially the police. The police service should free itself from any political interference, whether real or perceived, and be independent. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the country deserve some commendation for the role they have been playing to ensure that peace is sustained in the country. Ghana’s politics in many ways is shaped by religion, ethnicity, and other considerations. It is obvious that the CSOs are better positioned to play a leading role in ensuring free and fair elections in December. They have the capacity to prevent social, religious, political and internal conflicts. The December 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections offer those organisations another opportunity to play their role in Ghana’s developmental process. The general expectation is that they will show commitment and adopt a more pro-active and holistic approach in preventing conflicts and violence at all levels. In these critical moments the entire nation should exercise political maturity as a means of deepening Ghana’s democracy. The nation is larger than  any political party, and its prestigeous position as a “haven or oasis of peace” in the West African sub-region must be maintained by all means.       GNA ... Read Full Story