‘Winner takes all’ politics threat to Ghana’s democracy - IDEG

The Institute for Democratic Governance,(IDEG), is advocating an increase in the statutory allocation of the District Assembly Common fund from the current 7.5% of total national revenue to at least 15%.

IDEG believes such an increment will help facilitate development at the local level and deepen decentralization through multiparty-based local government system.

The Civil Society Organization is also pushing for the president's prerogative to appoint 30% of the membership of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to be scrubbed and replaced with a proportional representation taken into consideration female representation.

Addressing a regional dialogue in Koforidua in the Eastern region, a senior research fellow with IDEG Kwasi Jonah said the tension in Ghana’s politics is as a result of the ‘winner takes all political system’ the nation is practicing.

He noted " the current structure of political power in Ghana's democratic Politics has changed. The emergence of two dominant parties with near equal strength in numbers(duopoly) has rendered the winner takes all ineffective in managing this new power relationship" which has created new power structure such us exclusion, marginalization, polarization, fear and panic, persistent threat of violence in election and threat on the general stability of the country.

Ghana goes to the polls on December 7 to elect a president and parliamentarians.