Parties must not take electorate for granted
Manifestoes are essential ingredients for political parties because that is what they use to convince the electorate in seeking their mandate to steer the affairs of state.
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Manifestoes are very necessary because they give direction as to which way the parties want to take the people when given the governance nod.
In other words, manifestoes are business plans that political parties are expected to prosecute when elected into office.
With only 93 days to the December 7, 2016 elections, some members of the public, governance institutions and political parties have expressed different views (see front page lead story) on the delay by some parties in unveiling their manifestoes as the country gears itself up for the polls.
While some of the people who spoke with the Daily Graphic are unanimous in their view that the situation is not the best for the development of the country’s democracy, others are divided in their opinions regarding timeliness for the unveiling of manifestoes by the parties.
On the sidelines of a town hall meeting organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region last Wednesday, some people, in random interviews, proposed that political parties must be given a deadline to present their manifestoes to the electorate in an election year.
They further proposed the first quarter of the year for the manifestoes to be published and asked that the requirement be made part of the political parties law.
Coincidentally, on the issue of whether there is a delay or not in the release of the manifestoes for this year’s polls, some political pundits argue that it is not correct that manifestoes are late. Indeed, they argue that in the 2012 polls, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) launched its manifesto in August, followed by the National Democratic Congress NDC.
It is the contention of the Daily Graphic that this is not good enough for a budding democracy such as Ghana and our political parties can do better to help inform the electorate to make the right choices.
The line of reasoning that many Ghanaians do not read or pay attention to manifestoes before they decide how to vote should not be entertained at all if we are to truly build our democratic journey and reap its dividends.
From a good governance perspective, the Daily Graphic shares the opinion that, as a nation, we ought to re-examine how to move this country forward, so that the benefits of democracy will be reaped by all.
Clearly, it does not bode well for good governance practices if the political parties play the ‘waiting game’ before releasing their manifestoes.
Certainty, while the parties may not have breached any law, they cannot take the electorate for granted. This is because they ought to be aware that some of the people critically assess manifestoes and also judge the performance of governments on their manifestoes.
It is our hope that our political parties will live up to the expectation of all by working hard to ensure that the electorate are well informed to help engender good democratic practices, as well as help deepen and consolidate multi-party democracy to consequently catalyse the growth and development of the nation.
