A former Commissioner of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short says the boycott of the National Economic Forum (NEF) by the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a clear example of the negative effects of the ‘Winner Takes All’ practice in Ghana.
He said the total loss political opponents feel when they lose national elections prevents them from partaking in nation building.
“Political opponents don’t have any motivation to contribute constructively to national development,” he noted.
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has been advocating for the removal of the ‘Winner Takes All’ practice stated in the country’s constitution.
It has therefore set up an 11-member ‘Winner Takes All’ Advisory Committee to re-examine Ghana’s ‘Winner Takes All’ system and to supervise the conduct of a nationwide public consultation process.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Justice Short noted that the National Economic Forum was aimed in finding a lasting solution to a national problem but because the NPP is hoping to win power in 2016, it refused to partake in the forum to ‘help’ the government.
He said: “For some, the reason was simply this; you have won the elections, you’ve not be able to manage the economy properly, why are you calling us to help you to reverse the wrongs and to fix the economy?”
The former CHRAJ Commissioner stated that the practice does not build consensus and has the likelihood of forcing marginalized opposition parties to “sabotage the national agenda so that they can unseat the ruling government and they can also have the opportunity to come to power and to exploit the spoils of office.”
According to Justice Short, elections have become divisive and tense “and the whole nation is gripped with a great sense of uncertainty, people are not sure of what is going to happen and we have to have prayers all over the country to make sure that when the outcome of the election is known, there is no violence.”
He however expressed satisfaction with the increasing calls by Ghanaians for the system to be abolished adding that politicians are aware of the inherent dangers in the practice.
He pointed out that there is the need for an alternative system to be developed to “mitigate the negative consequences of the Winner Takes All system.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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