‘Change constitution to make politics less attractive'
Participants in the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Winner-Takes-All consultative forum in Takoradi have called for a review of the Constitution to make politics less attractive.
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The participants, drawn from both Central and Western regions and who were contributing to the debate on whether the winner-takes-all system of governance should be abolished, generally agreed that after practising the system for over 20 years, it was time to introduce a new system that would make politics less attractive to people.
Hajia Maimuna Habib-Ahmed from Cape Coast said at the forum that the current system of governance had resulted in promoting corruption, as there had been an influx of people with many backgrounds into politics.
She said it was imperative that the Constitutional Review Commission listened to the opinions being expressed by the populace with regard to the winner-takes-all system of governance by reviewing the 1992 Constitution in a way that would make politics less attractive for people to join.
She, therefore, advocated the reduction in powers given to the President, as well as instituting a national development plan which would be binding on all ruling political parties.
Hajia Habib-Ahmed also appealed to the Constitutional Review Commission to hasten slowly on the review process, postpone the referendum on the proposed amendments in December this year, and take into consideration the abolition of the winner-takes-all system, by introducing a system that would encourage participation by all political parties.
A representative of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Eric Offei, said the Constitution was supposed to have been changed since 1992, especially with regard to the winner-takes-all system and the failure by authorities to do so had resulted in polarising the country after practising it for over 20 years.
He, therefore, supported the call by the IEA Winner-Takes-All Advisory Committee for the abolition of the current system to pave the way for a new one that would help unite the people and accelerate development.
Mr James Atieku, a representative of the Ghana Blind Union and elected Assembly Member, said people with disability should be represented in Parliament.
He disclosed that even though the President was by law supposed to appoint 30 per cent of assembly members to the District Assemblies, the appointment always exceeded the percentage which did not help in promoting grass-roots democracy.