KEY POINTS
- Prof. Mike Oquaye advocates for the institutionalization of presidential debates in Ghana.
- He believes debates will promote transparency and accountability in elections.
- The proposal aims to strengthen Ghana’s democratic process and voter decision-making.
The former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye has urged his compatriots to ensure that the presidential debates are institutionalized in Ghana as a way of improving the democratic process of the country. According to Oquaye, if structured and mandatory, debates would afford the presidential candidates an opportunity to lay down their policies and also to give their stand on critical national issues.
Presidential debates as a tool for transparency
This is why Oquaye has called for institutionalization of debates since he believes that they are useful in educating the voters and making the candidates to be answerable to their words. He also pointed out that such debates would enable the people of Ghana to compare the competency and the ideas of those aspiring to be presidents of the country and hence have a clear understanding of the policy stand of each candidate.
GhanaWeb also reports that Prof. Oquaye supports the idea of a formalized debate system because it would also reduce the personalization of politics in Ghana and encourage policy-based campaigns. If the process is done openly and based on specific issues that candidates want to bring change on, candidates will be forced to showcase their leadership qualities and policies they have towards solving major problems bedeviling ghana.
Deepening Ghana’s democracy
Oquaye has it that the institutionalization of presidential debates would go a long way in enhancing the Ghanaian democracy. As mentioned, earlier Ghana has had sporadic and rather implicit presidential debates in the past
. Prof. Oquaye’s proposal aims at making these debates a standard feature of every election year so that all the contestants are given a chance to state their stand.
Debates would also also extend the voters participation since it will enable the electorate to be in a better position to make informed decisions.
As national matters become more and more complex like economy, education and health, Oquaye is right to argue that debates make seem to be appropriate venue to tell the electorate how the candidates intend to handle these issues.
Hope for future reforms
Although there is no formal plan to add the presidential debates into the list of formal political reforms, the call by Oquaye has initiated the debate on the possible positive impacts of the reform.
Evaluations from political analyst and civil society organization have further encouraged it, arguing that the move may help to enrich the quality of political processes through enhancing quality political discourse and informed population base.
And as the country finds itself in a democratic developmental processes, calls for debates to be institutionalized are steps towards more accountability and transparency.
If implemented, such a measure may result into a freer and more competitive electoral environment, and retain focus on policies that form part of the voters’ solutions to the future of the country.
