DFP to make great impact

The National Chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Alhaji Abdul Rahman Issaka, has said the party is working assiduously to make what he called “a great impact” during this year’s elections.
He said it was the avowed aim of the party to grow as a formidable force so as to break the incessant rivalry between the NDC and the NPP, which has the tendency to derail peace and stability in the country.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, Alhaji Rahman said the struggle for supremacy between the two parties, coupled with the intensity with which they throw mud at each other, required that a third force come into existence to calm the waters by ensuring that none of them had the simple majority.
He said that because of the winner-takes-all syndrome, people felt alienated when they lost elections.
“The sad story since 1992 is that governments with simple majority had bulldozed their way through with their policies, at times, at the expense of the populace. We will get enough Members of Parliament to ensure that any party that is in government would have rule by consensus,” he stated.
Alhaji Issaka also advised politicians of the two main political parties, NDC and NPP, not to regard the 2008 elections as a do-and-die affair and stated that this had also come about because of the winner-takes-all situation.
According to him, it is such postures by politicians that sees them using every means, whether fair of foul, to win elections irrespective of the cost to the nation.
Asked how the party was working to ensure that no political party had the greatest majority, he explained that currently the party had constituency executive and ward executive in 225 out of the 230 constituencies and added that the remaining five would be inaugurated before March 2008.
Alhaji Issaka said all the constituencies and the wards were functioning effectively and mobilising support for the party. He expressed the hope that this would be given a big boost after the party had elected its flagbearer in readiness for the 2008 elections.
He also stated that the party would only make a choice of which party to support during a run-off after its congress had taken a decision.
He said further that determination would be made based on the best interests of all Ghanaians and take into consideration the philosophy and policies of the party in question.
Alhaji Issaka said “in the unlikely event that the DFP does not win the elections and there is the need to support another party, that decision will be the prerogative of the congress and not any single individual”.
He added that the party’s philosophy was not entirely different from that of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and that of the Convention People’s Party (CPP). “You can also see that even the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is shifting towards the centre with their new policies for the poor in society”.
According to him, philosophically all these parties have one thing or another in common with the DFP but that the congress would look at which party would best work with the DFP.