Accra, Dec. 29, GNA - Mr Daniel Lartey, Leader of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), on Friday called on Ghanaians to use 2007 as 93political examination" year to analyse the governance of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to make the right electoral choice in Elections 2008.
He said Ghanaians should re-examine the leadership of the ruling party for their eight years in power and assess whether they had been able to change their lives for the better.
"Have they been able to deliver their promises or have they failed Ghanaians?" He asked.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on his forecast for 2007, Mr Lartey said if the Government did not change its ways of doing things the country would continue to be underdeveloped.
He said for a country like Ghana, which was blessed with rich mineral resources, to go out asking for donor support to the extent that her budget relies heavily on donor support, was not encouraging and left much to be desired.
Mr Lartey, who is nicknamed 93Mr Domestication" for his strong belief in self-reliance, said the Government had not put in place developmental actions hence the country was not seeing much development. "2007 is the only year the Government has got to see to it that things are done (well). They should move from looking for data to production so as to move the country forward."
Mr Lartey expressed his desire to see a more effective opposition in the coming year to help to strengthen the country's democracy and to move the country to middle income status.
He said the opposition parties were to make sure that whatever was pursued by the Government was in the best interest of the country and not party supporters.
They should not to adopt the "wait and see" method and allow things to fail and later take it up as a political campaign; this does not benefit the people but rather draws the country's development back," he said.
Civil society, he said, would be expected to elect leaders, who were capable of delivering on their promises to move the country from its current woeful state.
Sharing his views on Ghana@50 celebrations scheduled for March 2007, Mr Lartey told the Ghana News Agency that it was necessary to celebrate Ghana's 50th birthday because the country had come a long way. He said the country's birthday could not be written off although the country's level of development had not been what was expected.
"We have not been able to create and provide the people with what they should celebrate about."
He said the celebrations should be a time of reflection on the past, what went wrong to create the problems the country was facing now and the way forward for a better Ghana.
Mr Lartey asked the media to be fair in their reportage so as not to create unnecessary tension in the country.
He said the media as the Fourth Estate was to make sure things were done right and also to oversee activities of Government officials but not to get directly involved in things that tended to blur their sense of judgment.
He said attacking people's personality was not part of journalism and should be eschewed.
