Icing On The Cake
The largest opposition party in the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), goes to the polls today to select parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2012 general elections.
There is no doubt about the importance of these internal polls, the icing on the cake as it were, if things go well for the recently-expanded Electoral College in the NPP.
It is a crucial electoral exercise, albeit limited to one political party. As we mentioned in a previous editorial comment, anything relating to a political grouping in the country should be treated with utmost seriousness.
Our position is borne out of the fact that political parties as public bodies, whose operations are regulated by law, serve as platforms from which leaders are selected to run the affairs of the country.
No wonder state funding of these platforms was mooted sometime ago, although something concrete is yet to come out of the proposal.
The successful operation of political parties is crucial in the provision of qualified and appropriate leadership required to pilot the ship of state for our development agenda to be achieved.
They provide an instant insight into the extent of our political culture and its quality. When there is noise from a political grouping over one thing or the other, and above all, how such challenges are addressed, the message is too clear to be ignored.
There have been instances in the NPP where candidates were disqualified during the screening procedures, prior to today's event, to ensure that appropriate persons are presented for the delegates to choose from.
It appeared simple but that process was a segment in a string of activities which would eventually lead to the choice of an appropriate leadership for the country.
Today is therefore a landmark point in the political history of Ghana as the NPP puts to test, as mentioned earlier, the last segment in the strings of novelty election processes. The processes are the results of the desire by the party to deepen the democratic culture in the party. They are therefore worth supporting, especially since they could serve as a prototype for other political groupings to adopt.
Our democracy is still in a nascent stage and so any innovation, as in the NPP, will attract attention from observers and political science academics.
We are aware of the pressing demands from different interest groups in the party and how these have influenced the adoption of the expanded Electoral College concept.
We implore party supporters, members, delegates and all stakeholders, in the light of the foregone, to ensure that today's activities end without the rancor, acrimonies and other negative tendencies which characterize such exercises.
As part of the overall national democratic process, a successful NPP primary will impact positively in a way on the 2012 polls.
We have learnt about how the international community has taken a keen interest in today's activities, as some of them head for Adenta to observe the process.
We wish the NPP a successful process.