As part of arrangements towards the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) 2016 Debate Series, the IEA on Wednesday 1st June 2016 convened a meeting of representatives of flagbearers of three political parties, namely the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Peoples’ National Convention (PNC).
The incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC), which has questioned the IEA’s approach to this year’s debate series, appears to be on warpath with the institute and thus did not show up.
But the Institute has asked parties to forward their concerns for redress.
[contextly_sidebar id=”r6o3rfg5aVdhrtPtBLt8EgpAxCSGeDSx”]The meeting on Wednesday was aimed at discussing modalities and arrangements for the evening encounters and to undertake a ballot to determine the sequence of participation at the encounters.
Unlike Presidential Debates that bring all Presidential Aspirants together on the same platform, the Evening Encounters which are precursors to presidential debates provide a single platform to each of the presidential aspirants to present their vision and plans of governance to a cross section of civil society.
After each presentation, representatives of civil society will pose direct questions, seek clarifications or comment on the presentation.
As per the result of the ballot, the PNC’s flagbearer, Dr. Edward Mahama would be the first among the presidential aspirants to mount the IEA Evening Encounter Platform.
He would be followed by Mr. Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, flagbearer of the CPP and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, flagbearer of the NPP.
The first Evening Encounter would be held on Tuesday 21st June 2016. The remaining Encounters would be held weekly thereafter.
The IEA in a statement commended the flagbearers of the political parties for their “interest in mounting this accountability platform to share their vision, plans and to engage directly with the citizenry.”
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AfanyiDadzie