Election 2008 proved the case for a third force in Ghanaian politics

If there exist any such thing as political drama, then the 2008 elections which just ended is as good as it gets, at least from the standpoint of a Ghanaian. Certainly, the elections did not generate the kind of hype and attention with the world's media powerhouses as did the U.S elections in November, or even the elections in Bangladesh which was also held around the time of the Ghanaian presidential runoff. However the events surrounding the elections of December 7 and 28 which I need not repeat here created such tension in Ghana, and have inspired this little piece.

I have long held an opinion - at least since I came of age politically - that in Ghana a proportion of the electorate, a proportion significant enough to sway power one way or another, vote not “for” but “against”. Though scientifically untested, the events leading up to the elections and immediately thereafter have reinforced this belief, as have many articles that have been posted on this forum. Another way of putting it is that, in Ghana, there is a section of the electorate-which I want to refer to as the disenchanted bloc - who go to the polls not to vote a party into power, but to vote another party out of power. The disenchanted bloc see their vote for a party not as an affirmation of belief in its message, but rather as an expression, a protest against the another party.

What this means for a two-party state like Ghana (some may disagree with me here, but this is what I believe Ghana to be) is that the party that finds itself in opposition is not challenged to formulate any cogent or groundbreaking policies that will enable it wrestle power from the party in government. There is very little motivation for the opposition to come out with ingenious alternatives to solving national problems since in effect all it has to do is oppose the government on issues that are not always relevant, and then hope that the government makes a series of wrong turns that will incur the displeasure of the voting masses to repeat the cycle disenchanted voting all over again. The assurance for an opposition party is in such a two-party system is that, since it is the only viable alternative to the ruling party, it stands to benefit from the votes of the disenchanted bloc. This phenomenon is sometimes seen even in the more advanced democratic systems with two party systems. Some well respected political commentators in the US have expressed the view that the American election in 2008 was lost more by the Republicans than it was won by Democrats. Obviously, the incumbent Bush administration had made the Republican Party so unpopular that as one comedian put it, Christ himself could not have won the election had he stood for the GOP instead of McCain.

While the situation where opposition parties ride to power on a wave of widespread resentment for the ruling party exists in more advanced democratic systems, this is usually more an exception than the rule. In Ghana however I have a nagging feeling that as our nascent democracy entrenches itself, this trend will become a permanent cycle that is repeated every 4 or 8 years, and this will have a negative effect on our efforts to attain the kind of accountable and efficient leadership required to develop solutions to our many economic problems.

One solution to this problem I believe is to have not only a vibrant and vigilant opposition, but also competition in opposition; put differently, it is to have a true multiparty system, and not a two party system that masquerades under a banner of multi-partysm; a multi-party system that exists in substance and not only in form. At any election there should be in addition to the ruling party, at least two other parties strong and credible enough to win power and form a government. In Ghana, the only hope of realizing this at present lies with the Nkrumahist parties led by the CPP; Honestly I see very little difference in the policies touted by the CPP and the PNC, and so I often wonder what keeps these two parties separated? Is it not a more laudable endeavor, to seek political power for the tradition that these two parties represent, rather than remain divided and have their MPs trade their ideological chastity for some obscure positions in the governments of the NDC and NPP; two parties whose ideological differences with the Nkrumahists are more pronounced than between themselves?

The CPP created a lot of hype in the run-up to the December 7 elections, at one point it claimed to have registered about 400,000 members( I stand to be corrected on the figure), so how come they had less than 120,000 votes in the elections? The reason given by the party was that they ran out of money in the few weeks before December 7, but I believe this reason alone cannot account for their embarrassing performance. A more plausible explanation could be that they failed to convince Ghanaians that they had a credible chance of winning or even coming second and gaining a place in the run-off. Thus many party sympathizers, who would have voted for the CPP, felt such a vote would amount to nothing but a waste of all the time they'll have to spend in long voting queues.

To become a viable third force, the CPP must initiate moves to merge with the PNC. The other smaller Nkrumahist parties will more easily fall in line if these two parties come together. The Nkrumahist coalition after such a merger, can concentrate on being a more permanent fixture in the Ghanaian electoral cycle, rather than the seasonal parties that they presently are; heard of only in years of elections only to recede into oblivion after they have been whitewashed at the polls. The coalition should focus on building a more robust grassroots structure nationwide. By-elections can always serve as a good indicator of the progress being made. There are many Ghanaians like me who yearn for a viable alternative to the often parallel policies and divisive politics of the NPP and the NDC. I believe that the alternative is an Nkrumahist Coalition.

I hope for a democratic system in which people can afford the luxury of voting for a party because they believe in its policies and ideals, and not as a sign of registering their disapproval of an incumbent government, but until the Nkrumahists are able to get their act together and form a credible third force, this hope will remain hopeless fantasy.

Credit: Franklin Ofosu [E-mail: [email protected]]