Wishing NDC good luck

The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), goes to the polls today to elect its parliamentary candidates for the 2020 general election.

Today’s event, the first of two batches, which is taking place in all the 16 regions to select parliamentary candidates in 163 constituencies, involves 524 aspirants. (See lead story on front page).

So far the organisation of the elections has gone on quite smoothly except for a few challenges in some five constituencies for which elections in those areas have been put on hold.

By and large, the Daily Graphic is happy about the way the NDC has gone about its activities without any skirmishes so far.

The political season is no doubt gathering momentum with the two major political parties - the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC - putting in place the various mechanisms for the election of parliamentary candidates for the various constituencies across the country.

While the NPP is concentrating for now on what they term “orphan” constituencies, that is, constituencies where the party does not have a sitting Member of Parliament (MP), the NDC, on the other hand, has decided to stagger its parliamentary primary into batches of two.

There have been instances in the past when such democratic engagements or exercises had degenerated into chaos and undesired ends.

Fortunately, it is worthy to note that such negative incidents that usually mark the rudimentary stages of our political process, such as the parliamentary primaries, are missing in the political dispensation.

As the NDC elects the bulk of its parliamentary candidates today, the Daily Graphic will like to wish the party the best of luck and entreat aspirants and delegates alike to respect the rules of engagement.

The hierarchy of the party should also endeavour to ensure that a level playing field prevails and the national exercise conducted in a transparent and fair manner.

More so, all stakeholders in today’s exercise must know that the election is not a do or die affair but a means of ensuring that the will of the people triumphs.

It is, therefore, imperative that as the party carries out this important exercise, we relegate our personal quests and interests to the background and allow the party or national interest to prevail.

Regardless of the outcome of the NDC primaries in every constituency, it is our hope that the overriding goal should be for all to accept the results and where there are genuine challenges, the mechanisms within the party should be used to address them.

It is worthy to remember that when Ghana signed onto the decision to embark on its democratic journey, it was one born out of a desire for decency and orderliness within the body politic.
Such a disposition enriches good governance and enhances the quest to seek the common good of all citizens devoid of acrimony and needless tension.

Thus if all goes well with our democracy, it is the country as a whole that takes credit for it.

Our charge to all NDC party members, supporters and sympathisers is that they should go about the exercise with decorum and desist from any acts that will be at variance with the goal of the exercise.

As we urge the security agencies that will be deployed for the exercise not to relent in ensuring that all delegates go about the exercise in a peaceful manner, it is our hope that the outcome of today’s polls will enhance the globally acclaimed democratic credentials of the country.

The Daily Graphic wishes NDC well and hopes that the outcome of today’s event will form the basis for an enrichment of the country’s democratic experience going into the 2020 general election.