2008 Election Not Do-Or-Die Affair - Quantson

A former national security co-ordinator, Mr Bentum Quantson, has cautioned journalists and political leaders against creating the impression that this year's elections were a do-or-die affair.

He also urged political parties to do away with spin doctors and serial callers.

At a round-table discussion on post-election management in Accra yesterday, Mr Quantson also said these individuals inflamed passions and peddled falsehoods and rumours that could destabilise the country during and after this year's general election.

Organised by the Legon Institute for International Affairs (LECIA) in conjunction with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the roundtable discussion brought together representatives of political parties, civil society organisations and security officials.

Mr Quantson said serial callers were paid to defend their respective parties and lobby people on the air waves, saying that “that issue has to be addressed”.

According to him, the spin doctors and serial callers might not have the interest of the country at heart and that they were just doing so to advance their own cause.

The security expert said because of the “extreme emotion” generated by such inflammatory political utterances, reason took back stage in national discourse as many people, no matter their level of education, engaged in violent and one-sided arguments.

Therefore, he said, if the spin doctors and serial callers were allowed to continue peddling the falsehoods and rumours, as well as inflame passions, they would succeed in pitting one group of people against another and the result could be conflict in the country.

Mr Quantson spoke against inter-party and intra-party violence, and said it had the tendency of disturbing the peaceful conduct of the elections.

He noted that politics had become a lucrative business, compelling politicians to resort to violence and 'African electronics' (juju) to attain political power.

“If people who want to rule go to 'Juju', what is their motivation, and if we allow the inter-party and intra-party violence to continue, then we have a problem,” he stressed.

Mr Quantson said the media and political leaders had raised the tempo of this year's election by the use of inflammatory words and describing it as the 'mother of all elections'.

That, he said, sent worrying signals as to whether the loser would allow the victor to assume the leadership position in peace.

“We have to defuse the notion that their (the politicians') survival depends on the outcome of the election, otherwise they will do everything, fair or foul, to win power,” he cautioned.

Another worrying development, Mr Quantson said, had to do with the counter-accusations of violence between the two major political parties, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mr Quantson urged the government to “take the initiative to see that the flash points are properly managed to avoid violent actions”.

He asked the security agencies to work towards enhancing their effectiveness and credibility and asked the government to equip the security agents to be able to perform their work more efficiently.

He appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) “not to do anything to affect the outcome of the elections”.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, said the challenges of the post-election environment went beyond the transition or handover of the outgoing government to the government-elect, to include strategies to help the losing parties and their numerous supporters to not just accept the results but, more importantly, to help the government-elect to work towards national unity.

“While not taking for granted the open and reconciliatory leadership being provided by the current administration and the impact it will have on national unity after the elections, I dare say that under the current leadership of President Kufuor, Ghanaians have a chance to maintain a tradition carried on since the commencement of the Fourth Republic.

The Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Finance and Administration, Mr David Kanga, cautioned journalists against announcing their own results, since that had the tendency of creating confusion among the political parties.

The Dean of the Faculty of Social Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof Joseph Ayee, who chaired the function, stressed the need for politicians to shun the feeling of distrust and suspicion against each other, since distrust and suspicion had the tendency of fuelling conflict in the country.

Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru & John Ebow Twum