National development must not be left to politicians
Alban Bagbin wants Ghana to adopt her own type of democracy
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has stated that the development of a country cannot be left to politicians because of excessive partisanship.
The former lawmaker cited examples in Ghana and the United States about how former presidents acted in ways to cure partisanship and its attendant effect on development.
“It is not politicians who develop the country, if you leave the development of the country to politicians, they will deepen the differences,” he submitted on state broadcaster GBC during an exclusive interview.
He cited the case of America to buttress his point: “That is why at the inception of the independence and democracy in US, the founding father George Washington spoke against party politics.
“He was afraid that the states that have come together will be split along party lines and may not be able to sustain the union,” he stated.
In the case of Ghana, he referenced former president Jerry John Rawlings’ style of leadership: “That is why the late Jerry Rawlings also doubted democracy based on partisan politics. That is why during his governance, his appointments were such that he was cutting across the political divide.
“We need to be able to get non-political leaders to intervene to get this going and some have been playing very good roles,” he stated. He cited roles played by the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, the Christian Council and chiefs led by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
He also cited the National Chief Imam who he referred to as “highly respected” and the Ahmadiyya leader, all of who he said continued to engage with him at different levels.
Bagbin refuses to tag Ghana’s democratic system as a hybrid between the American Executive system and the British Westminster system. He avers that Ghana practices a home-grown democracy that needs to be further boosted by giving constitutional roles to chiefs and religious leaders.
“The roles they play are so key we should be able to formalize them and make them part of the governance structure,” he added. Read Full Story
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