The Die Is Cast

The National Democratic Congress�s much-touted election comes on tomorrow. We commented on the subject earlier but it would not be out of place to re-visit the subject, given its importance to local politics and the closeness we are to the D-day and H-hour. We have all been involved in one way or the other with the moulding of our democracy for the good of our present generation and others unborn in a pluralistic political dispensation. That is one of the features of democracy after all. Whatever happens in this epoch-making event would have a long-lasting effect on the practice of democracy in the country. The attention of the country is already understandably transfixed on the political theatre that Sunyani has been turned into overnight. While some think things would be a bit rough, judging from events presaging tomorrow�s activity, we can only hope that civility overrides everything else and that the skirmishes including the verbal exchanges were all a storm in a teacup. Our country is witnessing another phase of democracy in which an incumbent president is being challenged by a party person. Such deepening of democracy, although new on our landscape, should not be despised as some are doing. Let all have a say in the running of our political parties, important vehicles through which leaders are chosen. Let the delegates, representatives of the party, supporters, choose those they deem fit to bear the flag of the party in 2012. The various interventions by campaign staffers of the candidates have been anything but smooth, containing, as they did, harsh language along the way. As for the media, we have always rendered the amplification, an occupation which increased the bellicosity between the candidates. We members of the media, like cattle egrets, have fed on the emanating developments as part of the game of politics. That is the trademark of the media the world over and the local press cannot be exempted. We have only played our part the best that we can, no ill-motives intended. The democracy game is a long and complex one calling for the involvement of all to make it succeed, no matter the circumstances. Those who stick out their heads to lead their parties are only standing up to be chosen to serve their motherland eventually. Whoever is chosen eventually should consider themselves as having received the baton to serve humanity in their part of the world. Being a highly covetous position, there is bound to be friction and abrasion here and there but these should not be enough to tear relations apart. It is our hope that the various players, be they campaign assistants or foot-soldiers as the case maybe, would be guided by the need to ensure that democracy is kept alive through civil conduct. What is going to unfold tomorrow and beyond would be used in judging our democracy. It is not the eventual outcome of the 2012 polls which would, but a sum total of the activities of the various parties in choosing their flag-bearers and candidates for parliament and even beyond that. We should all be mindful about how we manage these crucial features of our political parties because the world is waiting to see whether we can maintain what we achieved in the last elections or not. Won�t it be great if we even go beyond what we achieved earlier? Once more, we wish the NDC all the best as we did earlier. Let the loser and victor be graceful in their new statuses in the interest of the image of our country.