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Bernard Mornah, the outgoing president of the National People’s Convention (PNC)
Bernard Mornah, outgoing president of the National People’s Convention (PNC), observed on Tuesday that the nature of the country’s democracy does not help support minority political parties.
He therefore called for a political party stakeholder forum to deliberate on how to support small parties in the political landscape.
Mr Mornah said this in a speech read on his behalf at the Party’s 29th anniversary symposium on “Consolidating multiparty democracy, supporting minority parties”.
He said that at the start of the Fourth Republic, minority party representation was 11.43 percent, but currently representation is close to zero.
“This should worry us because if you don’t have any numbers to show you lose your bargaining power,” he said.
Mr. Mornah therefore underlined the need for small parties to come together and position themselves to increase their representation.
He said the merger of the PNC and the People’s Convention Party (CPP) must be mutually beneficial for the parties, adding: “If we use the name of one party, we must also use the symbol of the other party. to prevent people from using the same name and symbol and pretend to be a real nkrumist party.
Mornah said funding for small parties was also a big concern and stressed the need for party leaders to explore funding opportunities to ensure the livelihoods of small parties in the country.
He urged the media to allow minority parties to express their views on national issues without being labeled as annexes to the ruling party or the main opposition party.
Madame Nana Frimpomaa Sarpong KumanKuma, president of the Convention People’s Party, CPP, observed that the country’s multiparty system had turned into a duopolistic, dominated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress, and threatening the survival and the general stability of small political parties.
“We need to break the overarching influence of the duopoly and give more meaning to Ghana’s multi-party democracy to comply with the public service intentions of the 1992 Constitution,” she said.
Ms. KumanKuma called for comprehensive discussions on political party funding to identify alternative strategies and an appropriate mechanism to make political parties financially sound.
Mr. Yaw Preko, Deputy Director of Communications, NPP, in a message of solidarity, on behalf of the Party Secretary General, acknowledged the contributions made by minority parties to support Ghana’s democracy and make it a multi-party state, adding that the nation owned it a duty to help and maintain these small political parties to survive rather than suppress them.
Mr. Edem Agbana, deputy national organizer of the NDC, instructed minority political parties to promote their ideologies and empower their leaders to speak out on critical national issues.
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