Political parties must prepare people for leadership positions before they gain political power, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has advised.
He said a political party often shapes the character of a future government long before an election.
He said decisions about who advances within a party, the qualities it rewards, the seriousness with which it develops policy and the conduct it tolerates eventually influence the character of public administration when the party assumes power.
Mr Asiedu Nketiah made the remarks at the inaugural Inter-Continental Dialogue on Political Parties in Seoul, South Korea, where he addressed the gathering on behalf of political parties participating in the African Political Parties Initiative (APPI).
The event brought together the Africa Governance Centre (AGC), through APPI, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPPPAL).
Mr Asiedu Nketiah cautioned political organisations against confusing electoral effectiveness with readiness to govern.
“A party may be highly skilled at mobilisation, campaigning and electoral strategy but still lack the policy, institutional and leadership capacity required to manage the complexities of government,” he stated.
He,therefore, called for greater emphasis on leadership preparation during the period before political opportunities arise.
He also stressed the need for parties to develop successive generations of leaders capable of taking responsibility, so every transition does not become an institutional crisis.
Failures
Mr Asiedu Nketiah also urged political parties to examine their own failures instead of focusing exclusively on explaining their successes or blaming opponents for setbacks.
He said electoral defeats, declining membership, public disaffection and difficult leadership transitions could expose weaknesses that prolonged political success might conceal.
He explained that political organisations willing to examine why citizens had withdrawn their confidence were better positioned to renew themselves than those that attributed every setback to their opponents' shortcomings.
Mr Asiedu Nketiah said that just as opposition should not be treated as a period of political inactivity, parties in government needed to remain connected to citizens despite the pressures and demands of governing.
He warned that parties could become insulated from ordinary citizens once they assumed office, while opposition parties could become so focused on criticism that they neglected developing credible alternatives.
Beyond elections
Mr Asiedu Nketiah said political parties needed structures and institutional habits that remained useful whether they were in government or opposition.
He stressed the need for political parties to build their long-term relevance around their ability to produce ideas, develop leaders and maintain public confidence.
He said institutional depth was particularly important because political leaders and governments would change, while strong institutional relationships could survive those changes.
He also welcomed plans for the Inter-Continental Dialogue to develop into a continuing process, with future engagements held in different locations as relationships among participating institutions deepen.
He said the initiative should be judged less by the visibility of individual meetings and more by the quality and usefulness of the relationships developed through them.
