The Anti-Winner-Takes-All Campaign�

The Institute of Economic Affairs� campaign against the winner-takes-all nature of our politics is throwing up quite some interesting suggestions. Though the IEA seemingly slumbered throughout two-year constitutional process instituted by late Professor John Evans Atta Mills, in not articulating its anti-WTA stance as vigorously as it is doing now, but as the wisdom goes, in all matters it is almost always better late than never. In a recent interaction with the IEA�s WTA Committee with former President John Agyekum Kufour for the scrapping of the Office of the President and that of Council of State and their replacement respectively with the Office of the Prime Minister and an Upper Chamber of Parliament. President Kufour also revisited his old opposition to the manner of appointment of the five commissioners of the Electoral Commission and their iron clad security of tenure. We recall that in his first few months in office as President in 2001or thereabouts, he advocated that the tenure of the EC should expire with that of the President who appoints them. The former President wants his suggested Prime Minister to be charged with the responsibility of leading government business in Parliament, akin to what the Majority Leader does now, but with the higher burden of being accountable to Parliament instead of the President as is currently the case. Ex-President Kufour reportedly want a Second Chamber of Parliament which though non-partisan, would stop the majority from allegedly �having their way�, according to one report. It will also be charged with the responsibility of vetting minister and judges. On the Electoral Commission, Mr. Kufour wants the power of its appointment taken away from the Presidency and vested in a Constitutional Body and its tenure limited. A presidential system of government without a vice president? Anomalous! What happens when we are confronted with an emergency as in 2012 when ailing President Mills joined his ancestors? Who takes over within 24 hours as President Mahama did then? If the intention is to relief the President of some of the burdens of office, The Chronicle will recommend the retention of the President /VP ticket, but after victory the President will swear in his vice as the Prime Minister, with specific duties, including liaison with the Upper House of President and taking over in his absence. An Upper Chamber of Parliament? Maybe, but surely not to stop the majority from having their deserved way. That would violate a very fundamental leg of adversarial democracy � the minority will have their say but at the end of it all the majority will have their way. The Chronicle does not see how it would be non-partisan. They are partisan in the US, they are partisan in the UK and they are partisan in Nigeria. And in all three countries they are elected on party tickets. The only difference between the lower and higher chambers of Parliament in their criteria of choice, with the lower one elected on the basis of population while the upper one will be on the equality of states or in Ghana, equality of regions. Another difference will be the age of qualification, maybe not lower that fifty. Yes, 50 and above. After all their major role is to bring matured minds to bear on the bills passed exuberant the boys and girls in the lower house, isn�t it? On the EC, The Chronicle will counsel that care be taken not to throw away the baby with the bath water. The framers of the 1992 Constitution must have good reasons for giving the EC security of tenure. They may have recalled how an EC Chairman had to jump out of the window of his office to escape people who were hell bent on forcing him to cook election figures for them. We may review the appointment process, with strict background checks by a bi-partisan committee of Parliament and the Judiciary, but we must desist from any tinkering with the EC�s security of tenure. Those bitten by a snake in the past take flight at the mere sight of a worm!