Former Deputy Ambassador to China Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah
A former Deputy Ambassador to China, Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah, is calling on political parties to review their constitutions so that no candidate is allowed to contest for the flagbearer position more than three times.
According to Mr Ankrah, even the 1992 constitution permits the president to serve for only two terms and, therefore, to promote democracy, the culture where individuals have contested more than three times to be their party’s flagbearers should be discontinued.
Speaking to Kofi Oppong Asamoah on the Class Morning Show on Class91.3FM Monday, 6 September 2021, Mr Ankrah said democracy is not about monopoly but giving others the opportunity also to birth their visions.
He said, “the 1992 constitution talks about the president being able to serve for only two terms so that you can even serve a term, and when you’re kicked out, you can still come back.”
“So if the 1992 constitution is giving you two terms [and] you can only be president if you became a flagbearer of a political party and then win the national elections, why will you contest more than three times as flagbearer of a party?” he quizzed.
“So I believe that if every single party – the NDC, the NPP, the CPP, the PPP can actually make sure [for a] flagbearer, you can only be that on three occasions and then the constitution then disqualifies you from contesting again, it will be a very good thing to promote in a democracy,” Mr Ankrah added.
Explaining the rationale for his assertion, the former Ambassador said, “democracy is not about monopoly, it’s about giving others the opportunity to birth their visions…
“Nobody who has ever been a flagbearer of a political party for about three times should contest again.
“There should be a constitution that should disqualify that individual from going for the fourth time and fifth time. However, I believe that if you’ve never been a flagbearer, you can contest as many times as you want. I think when we do that, we’ll be promoting democracy in a way”.