Ghana's democratic culture on display

That came in the wake of the perception that factionalism in the party would mar the beauty of the contest and the fact that Tamale was unsafe for the large gathering.

Apart from pockets of disagreements, the delegates changed the face of the party, with only one member of the old executive retaining her position.

In a polarised society where rivals in a political contest would expect their opponents to fail in order for them to gain advantage, the political parties that attended the delegates conference suppressed their differences and were very gracious in their speeches.

The advice by the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, to the NPP delegates to conduct themselves well, since the "whole world was watching them", was encouraging.

 According to him, the success of the congress would determine whether or not Ghana would move a step further in its democratic dispensation.

Similar sentiments were expressed by the Progressive People's Party (PPP), the Convention People's Party (CPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the People's National Convention (PNC), the United Front Party (UFP) and delegations from Germany and Cote d'Ivoire.

The conference, which was held on the theme: "Our Roots: Our Strength, Our Future”, saw the over 5,000 delegates elect, for the first time in the history of the NPP, someone from the north, in the person of Mr Paul Awentami Afoko, as its National Chairman to steer the affairs of the party for the next four years.

Undoubtedly, the NPP had a very successful conference, even though there were pockets of skirmishes. The conference and the election of national executive members generated a high level of competition, participation and enthusiasm, which are good signs of internal democracy in a political party.

Now that the NPP has successfully completed its national delegates conference, its future is in the hands of party members and functionaries. They must endeavour to iron out their differences and bond well if they want to wrest power from the NDC.

The so-called factionalism in the party must be nipped in the bud to pave the way for a united party with a common purpose to win political power to advance the cause of Ghana.

In this regard, the Daily Graphic urges the winners to be magnanimous in victory and the losers gracious in defeat. Members of the party, including all former national executive members, must lend their support to the elected officers to achieve successs. 

It is not only the NPP that will gain from this enterprise; Ghana as a whole and most especially the democratic architecture we are trying to build will stand tall in the comity of nations.

We congratulate the winners and wish the losers well in other endeavours.