Let NPP keep to the right, NDC to the left, no power sharing business – Lee Ocran
Former Education Minister, Mr. Lee Ocran has mocked the call by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to have the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) play a role in the appointment of the chairman of the Electoral Commission.
He says the call, contained in a letter signed by NPP chairman, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, constitutes for him, the funniest thing ever since the advent of the 4th Republic. In any case, he said, the demand is symptomatic of the NPP when they are out of power. All they want is to share power, and from there they would proceed to broker further demands.
“It is the funniest thing that I have heard since the 4th Republic was inaugurated. You know, these people whenever they lose power, they try to share power from the backdoor. Since when did IPAC, (Inter-Party Advisory Committee) I was a member of the first IPAC which was formed just after the 1992 elections, we have not discussed anything like that because it is not our mandate and the constitution makes it very clear who should appoint the Electoral Commissioner,” he told Radio Gold in Accra.
He said even if the wishes of Jake Obetsebi Lamptey were to be granted and the existing political parties participate in appointing the next Electoral Commission chairman, what then becomes of the appointee if another party not in existence now emerges later in 2015 and win the next polls?
Lee Ocran, a former Ambassador to South Africa, said President Mahama must understand the adversarial political system operating in the country, which affords winners of elections to rule and be accountable for their decisions and actions, while losers at the polls must bide their time and while in opposition, criticise the ruling side responsibly until the next elections.
He said some current leading members of the NPP participated in a campaign against the introduction of union government in the country by the Acheampong regime and wondered what has changed for the NPP to be part of a different ruling party.
“You see, politics is like walking down the road, you either walk on the right or on the left. If you walk in the centre because you want to please people, you’ll be knocked down by a car. The NDC is a left of centre party, the NPP is a right of centre party, let everybody keep to his lane and at the elections, we should sell our manifestoes, our promises, our programmes to the people and they would decide whom they want to vote for.”
Lee Ocran warned President Mahama that should he decide to placate the NPP by offering them the concession they seek, they would still campaign against him.
He recalled that in 1964, after Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had led his party to electoral victory, the then opposition wanted to share power with him via a federal system but Nkrumah stood his ground saying that could not be done.
He quoted Nkrumah as saying that; “To negotiate with forces that are hostile on matters of principle leads to sacrificing principle itself. Principle is indivisible. It is either wholly kept or wholly sacrificed. The slightest concession on matters of principle implies the abandonment of principle.”
He said “if the president gives in to what they are saying now, the next time they would say oh, we won whatever region, therefore you have to negotiate with us in the appointment of the regional minister, the next time they would do something else.
“This is not going to happen, we have a constitution, we are stick strictly to the constitution and let the NDC organise itself properly and in 2016 defeat them hard.”
Story by Isaac Yeboah/Graphic.com.gh/Ghana
