Former Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu has said one of the major problems of Ghana in the 1992 Republican constitution is the principle of winner takes all.
According to him, if ‘the winner takes all’ challenge is properly resolved, it may help keep the beauty and cohesion Ghana is enjoying democratically; hence the country should take a serious look at it.
He made these remarks at a stakeholder’s engagement on the validation of the Constitutional Review Commission report of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, which is on the theme; “Building Consensus and Promoting Ownership for the Review of the 1992 Constitution” organize by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA).
The Tamale South lawmaker proposed proportional representation for Ghana as it exists in South Africa, adding that this can help solve, “all the tensions we see leading to the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana”.
He opined that the whole idea of winner takes all leaving the opposition parties without anything or no role to play has not helped, adding that there are Ghanaian citizen who may never ever get recognized because they do not align to any political party or share the same ideology with political parties. “We need to agree among ourselves even if we bring it to a national discussion what should we do with the winner takes all principle in the 1992 Constitution”, he noted.
He further, pointed out that this time around he hopes lip service will not be paid with the constitutional review and amendment of the 1992 Constitution, as we already lost an opportunity in the last John Evans Atta Mills/John Dramani Mahama administration.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com