Justice Crabbe calls for national conversation to draw plans to avert crisis of political polarisation
For him, national consciousness for consensus in all Ghanaian activities was important to bridge the polarised political environment in the country, which did not augur well for the country's democracy.
Justice Crabbe was speaking at the 9th Kronti Ni Akwamu lectures organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in Accra on Thursday, on the theme: " Democratic Governance in Ghana: How political polarisation may be abated."
"The time has come to start the clarion call — a clear and loud call — for a national conversation to reflect on the significant progress made towards entrenching the culture of electoral democracy," he stated.
Setting the tone for his presentation, he said 2013 marked 20 years of the restoration of constitutional democracy in the country, a period which had witnessed six "generally peaceful" and "relatively credible" elections.
However, he said, competitiveness and seemingly high stakes associated with elections had resulted in the political polarisation of the country mainly by the two leading political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Explaining the relevance of the principles of democracy, Mr Justice Crabbe said for instance, the principle of citizen participation, which was a right, as well as a duty, and which could be in the form of attending to community responsibilities or engaging in a peaceful demonstration for a legitimate cause, ensured democracy and good governance.
He said equality also ensured that in a democracy, individuals and groups maintained the right to have different cultures, personalities, languages, views and differing opinions.
"A democratic society is composed of people from different and differing cultures, racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds. A democratic society is enriched by diversity. And yet there is unity in that diversity. If majorities deny rights to and destroy the minorities, then democracy is destroyed," Mr Justice Crabbe said.
Although elections were the bedrock of democratic, practice, "a successful election is not a successful democracy," he said.
The competitive nature of elections, thus compelled transparency and integrity as flawed elections resulted in conflicts.
However, mechanisms for the various stakeholders to be actively involved in the electoral process, made it credible and acceptable to all.
Other defining characteristics of pre-independent constitutions, he said, were the quest for a representative government, prescribed in the Burns Constitution of 1946 and the Coussey Constitution.
Mr Justice Crabbe said violence entered the political discourse of the country with the events of the shooting of the ex-servicemen on the February 28, 1948 incident, and violence had been growing since then.
The country, however, seemed to miss the opportunity to bridge divisions as it did not consider suggestions for compromise and moderation.
He said three constitutional commissions in 1968 and 1978 and the committee of experts in 1991 had proposed means of power sharing and consensus in the country.
The first proposal was for the composition of a Council of State to include the Minority Leader.
The idea featured in the 1969 Constitution, and also the 1979 Constitution, with the idea of "a constitutional organ composed mainly of men and women of experience and proven merit and eminence".
The 1991 Committee of Experts also recommended as members in the composition of the Council of State, "the leaders of all political parties in Parliament."
Story: Caroline Boateng
