CPP calls for diplomatic politicking

Accra, May 14, GNA - The Convention People's Party (CPP) on Saturday urged political parties in the country to adopt the practices of diplomatic politicking to forge unity for national development.

Dr Edmund Delle, CPP Chairman, who told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Accra noted that the current antagonism, tribal and political vindictiveness, intolerance, undermining of opponents, especially among functionaries of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and other opposition parties is cruising the nation to a gloomy destination.


He said the modern trend of multi-party democracy is based on the philosophy of diplomatic politicking, which opens the door for healthy bilateral dialoguing among political opponents.


Dr. Delle said: "politics have moved from the ground of hostilities, brutalities to dialoguing," adding all political parties aimed at attaining power to govern the country to improve the lot of the people. He said the adoption of a common platform for chairmen of NPP, CPP, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the People's National Convention (PNC) during the last general elections was to imbue diplomatic politicking into the Ghanaian system.


The CPP leader urged the political parties, Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Ghana Centre for Democratic Governance (CDD-Ghana) media and other democratic institutions to facilitate the introduction of diplomatic politicking into Ghanaian politics.


"Politicians are not enemies, we are one people with different political ideology on how to reach a national goal," Dr Delle said. On the Nkrumaist Unity, Dr Delle said the fundamental platform for merger between the CPP and PNC have been adopted.

We have only crossed the first hurdle - establishment of good faith to guide our activities in the quest for unity. The discussions and common platform would be circulated throughout the various structures at the constituency, ward and lower levels of both parties to debate and work out common modalities to build consensus for unity.


He said after the discussions and sensitisation, the proposed document would be present to a legal committee for onward submission to National Delegates Congress of the two parties for adoption or otherwise.


Dr Delle said after Congress, "then we will start the registration procedure at the Electoral Commission."


He said, "what we have done now is working out an organisational programme for the attainment of united progressive activism in the country.''


He urged members of the two parties to organize internal discussions on the modalities and make the appropriate inputs for a comprehensive document.

The political parties that identify with the Nkrumaist tradition since the inception of the fourth republican constitution have made several attempts to forge united front for future elections.


The Nkrumaist Parties - Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), CPP, PNC and the National Reform Party (NRP) after every general election attempted to forge unity but entrenched positions by some of the past and present leadership hindered the talk.


The leaderships of the CPP and PNC the only Nkrumaist parties who contested the 2004 Presidential election have again started another unity talks.


Dr Delle urged the leadership of the both parties, national, regional, constituency and ward levels to approach the on-going unity talks with the goodwill that would help achieve the desired unity expeditiously.


The CPP Leader said that as a result of the divisions in the Nkrumaists front, many of its sympathisers "are sitting on the fence and will surely receive the announcement of the achievement of unity with joy."