Winner-takes-all policy inimical to national unity

Ghana has been commended by the global community for making modest gains in democratic governance.

Since 1992, it has made significant strides by conducting six peaceful elections and in the process witnessed two peaceful transfers of political administration from one party to another. 

However, the nation is faced with some inherent difficulties in its democratic dispensation. 

The vexed issue of the politics of exclusion or winner-takes-all still remains embedded in our governance structure, compounded by the duopoly of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). 

Politicisation and corruption of public service bureaucracies, the recurring threat of violence in elections and the lack of sustained political dialogue are some of the challenges facing the country’s democratic march.

It is in this connection that the Daily Graphic adds its voice to the call by speakers at a national interest forum in Accra last Monday for the review of the winner-takes-all policy in the country’s democratic governance, since it is creating exclusion and generating tension.

In the view of the Daily Graphic, the country’s quest to reap the dividends of democracy can only be attained if the winner-takes-all policy is reviewed. 

Generally, society operates in a fair, open and meritocratic manner. However, if individuals constantly feel excluded from the governance system, then there is something wrong and there is the need for reforms to improve the democratic system and prevent any threat to violence and stability.

The continued exclusion of perceived political opponents from participating in the decision-making process and having access to state resources has been identified as one of the major causes of tension and political violence in Ghana’s elections.

The Daily Graphic thinks every effort should be made to ensure that the country’s politics is based on issues, instead of any other consideration. 

The politics of patronage as a means of grabbing wealth must be a thing of the past, so that our democratic dispensation will serve the public good.

Maintaining national cohesion must be the preoccupation of all Ghanaians, particularly politicians and political parties.