General News of 2012-09-06

NPP, NDC don’t provide national cohesion – IDEG Boss

The Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey, has slammed the country’s leading political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as being so politically divided they did not provide leadership for national cohesion.

His comments follow allegations by the opposition NPP that the Electoral Commission (EC) is in bed with the ruling NDC over the creation of 45 new constituencies.

He observed that whilst he was looking for “leadership from Parliament,” it is unfortunate that, “these two parties are so divided that they don’t provide that leadership for solving a problem that is threatening national cohesion.”

He said whilst the Minority's concerns should be taken seriously, he thought it was problematic for them to accuse the EC of being in bed with the government.

The EC, he noted, has a track record in conducting very challenging and credible elections since 1992 and it was unfortunate to accuse the Commission of being in bed with one party.

He added that if they doubt the credibility of the EC, they should look up to Parliament to rather resolve such issues which need to be resolved.

The IDEG boss again accused the NDC and NPP of “not providing strong dispute resolution leadership. They easily polarize on matters of this nature and then they leave us hopeless.”

He called for stronger leadership in Parliament and urged both parties to “explore every avenue possible to get a resolution and see how best they would also articulate their frustrations to the public for support.”