Politics is an art that requires mastering over chaos to attain a certain dominance. It’s a complex business that creates an environment for personal enterprising. In countries without democracy, the pursuit of such personal interest creates disorderliness amidst human rights abuses, absolute state capture and exercise of absolute power over citizenry and political opponents, if any.
Democracy however, is to allow for dissenting views, exercise of freedoms and the enjoyment of basic/natural rights. Democracy has a focal intent of creating a peaceful socio-economic environment with the general welfare of the citizenry being the benchmark.
Nonetheless, in democratic states, politics remains a matter of interest that requires a certain level of dominance and that is the reason why parties attempt to create a state of silence, ridiculing of political opponents and their parties so as to derive inextricable support from the masses to aid in their pursuit for dominance. In the words of H.L. Mencken, “under democracy, one party always devotes it’s chief energies to prove that the other party is unfit to rule– and both commonly succeed, and are right.”
In some cases, the attempt to achieve dominance results in chaos, mostly planned and executed by the political parties.
In recent times, politics in Ghana is becoming a matter of ‘how do we dominate’. In view of this, a selected few are being empowered, through fraudulent absolute capture and control over state resources including royalties from our natural resources. The ultimate goal is to ensure a certain level of dominance that will aid perpetuity as far as governance of the country is concerned.
To make matters worse, this unquenchable degree of desperation has led to the dissipation of the ‘neutral characteristics’ of some state institutions. It is evident in the conduct of the police service, the military and even the courts.
This new but old trend to politics in Ghana must be of interest to every young Ghanaian who is upbeat about the future of this country. Recent events have just one motive; and that’s to ensure that a particular political party stays in power for a very long time. The chaotic political environment we see today foreshadows the harrowing experiences that we may be plunked into as a nation if we allow for that ‘one party dominance’.
It’s in light of this, that I believe that the composition of the 8th Parliament presents us with some hope. The nature of it means the desperados with a speeding vehicle would be halted, they won’t have the chance to muscle their way through with the passage of inimical bills and trade agreements. We won’t be seeing the likes of Agyapa, PDS, Amended Ameri deal go through parliament the way and manner it was done in the past.
The resistance showed by the NDC in Parliament during the dissolution of the 7th Parliament and the inauguration of the 8th is enough reason for us to keep the hope alive again. Our democracy is as old as that of America as far as the African continent is concerned but I am confident that this new parliament would provide us the balance that has been missing over the years.
By: Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu, Correspondent of the EIB Network
