IDEG Organises Election Issues Platforms

As part of its Election 2008 Project entitled "Sustaining Credible Elections, Peace and National Cohesion in Ghana 2008", the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) will organise 'Election 2008 Issues Platforms' starting today.

The Election Issues will facilitate interaction between voters in specific communities, political parties and parliamentary candidates in order to share their most pressing development interests and needs.

A statement issued by IDEG, said the programme was expected to promote dialogue on the issues and policies required to resolve challenges in the local and district levels.

It was also to promote social cohesion at the national and community levels during and after the competitive electioneering process.

It said the programme would be organised in seven out of the 10 regions in the country and would help strengthen the links between elected legislators and citizens, build knowledge of voters around the policy framework within which parliamentary candidates would be expected to address the priority issues of their constituencies, and promote an effective accountability relationship between citizens and their elected officials through dialogue on the political parties' manifestos.

Four separate topics, framed through focused group discussions held in the targeted regions between July 29 and August 15, 2008 would be addressed by the political parties and the parliamentary candidates in a facilitated interactive session with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including members of the Governance Issues Forum (GIF) Network, who are representatives of the private and public sectors, as well as the media.

The programme will start on November 4, at theTamale Radach Memorial Centre, followed by another one at the Stevens Hotel in Ho on November 18; the Cape Coast Cultural Centre in Cape Coast will host its programme on November 11, while another will be at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on November 13.

The statement said it was expected that the deliberations of the GIF Election Platforms would lay the foundation for an effective and accountable relationship between constituencies and the elected Members of Parliament on the implementation of development programmes that would promote social cohesion in the constituency.