'Democracy Cannot Thrive on Poverty’

A leading member of the Progressive Alliance, Mr Dan Markin, has said Ghana cannot hope to sustain its democratic process, if the economic conditions do not provide incentives for the people to fight poverty and gain employment.

He said the consolidation of the country’s democracy and its enhancement would depend on the establishment of an economic framework that would ensure that people earn decent and meaningful livelihood.

Mr Markin was answering questions on issues ranging from the future economic and political direction of the country to the maintenance of peace in the West Africa and the continent in Accra yesterday.

He said even though the former government, run by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), made strenuous efforts to lay the material and social foundations for a viable democratic system, additions to the country’s population as well as adverse developments on the global market seemed to erode the gains during its management of the country.

Mr Markin said after so many years of the former government prudent and strict financial discipline intended to restructure the infrastructure base of the country and facilitate and encourage investors to commit capital to the various sectors of the economy, the mass of the people are yet to reap the gains of so many years of sacrifice.

He said if the economic conditions do not appreciate , social forces whose interest would be to line their pockets with money will be spawned in the Ghanaian society.

The alliance leading member wondered why there is considerable pressure on the government by advanced policies to subscribe to economic options they have prescribed and described as best for the country’s present and future development.

According to Mr Markin , the government seems to be “restless” due to the intense pressure put on it by Britain to go for the HIPC initiative, when at the same time other donor countries are threatening to sanction Ghana, if it opts for it.

Mr Markin described the issue of national reconciliation as contained in the President’s sessional address as dicey and said care must be taken not to fester old wounds that would further polarise the nation and lead it to the brink of chaos and confusion.

He said what the country demands from the present government is for it to encourage the mass of the people to dedicate and commit themselves to developing the nation. It must also seek moves to ensure genuine reconciliation among the people.

Mr Markin also described the political situation in the sub-region as uncertain and stressed the need for countries in the region to outline measures to ensure that “ embers of conflicts” in some parts of the region do not threaten their economies nor the lives of their peoples.