Insults should give way to issues-based campaign

The Media Foundation for West Africa last Thursday came out with findings from its maiden media monitoring project aimed at promoting issues-based campaign and ensuring sanity in the media ahead of the crucial December polls.

 
The issue is not about whether one believes in the findings or not, because the fact of the matter is that the media, especially the airwaves, are saturated with too much indecent, intemperate and provocative utterances that do not augur well for   the peace and stability of this nation.

 
Developments in the country clearly point to a serious threat that awaits the nation as we prepare for the December presidential and parliamentary elections.

 
If a simple exercise of registering potential voters could generate the level of violence and atrocities being visited on innocent citizens, then all well-meaning Ghanaians, and non-Ghanaian partners as well, must be worried about the could happen in voting day of December 7, if the right measures are not put in place.

 
The unprecedented controversies with the ongoing biometric voters' registration will soon be over, as we complete the penultimate phase and start the last phase this week.

 
The actual 2012 political game starts with the completion of the registration process, where the various political parties will be telling the electorate why they deserve their mandate to manage their destinies for the next four years, beginning January 7, 2013.

 
This is where all well-meaning citizens expect our political parties and their leadership to show commitment to campaign based on issues, instead of attacking one another and engaging in unhealthy debates, which are not relevant to the electorate and are detrimental to the democratic fortunes of the country.

 
This is where the media will have to play a major role by offering their platforms for discussion and healthy debates of bread and butter issues that are germane to the survival of the electorate and the development of the nation in general.

 
The media should not forget that the negative practice of creating a platform for politicians to vilify and assassinate the character of opponents does no good to the nation, other than setting it on the path of chaos that could disturb the prevailing relative peace and stability.

 
As media organizations, we will do the nation a world of good if we rather challenge politicians on relevant policy issues that have both direct and indirect bearing on the lives of the electorate, as well as using our platforms to promote peace other than promoting intemperate and hate speeches.

 
Now, it is clear that the two major political parties, the ruling National Democratic Congress and the opposition New Patriotic Party, are prepared to meet each other squarely on any path each may decide to lead the other, be it on the path of verbal or physical confrontations.