Dec 7 polls can pass as fair and peaceful

It has become a norm that some days before general election in the country, political parties and their flag bearers sign peace pacts to commit to peaceful elections.

Thus, on Thursday, political parties and their presidential candidates contesting the December 7, 2024 elections signed a peace pact to ensure peaceful polls.

The parties and their candidates committed to maintaining peace before, during, and after the polls.

That is to say that they have agreed that even where they have grievances, they would follow due process to resolve them.

Unfortunately, the Presidential candidate of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Christian Andrews, Nana Kwame Bediako of the New Force and Mr Alan Kyerematen of the Movement For Change, as well Kofi Koranteng,  an Independent candidate, were absent at the signing, except that their representatives were there and they were allowed to speak but not permitted to sign the peace pact.

The Ghanaian Times, however, believes this situation would not take much weight from the pact.

The country has witnessed two electoral petition cases so far, in 2012 and 2020 regarding the results of the presidential polls, but both were resolved amicably by the Supreme Court.

That means due process prevailed and this is an important ingredient in all elections, if the results are disputed.

Elections in this country so far have not passed without some protestations and isolated incidents of low-level violence, yet at the end of them all, peace prevailed.

It is this attitude of Ghanaians that has earned the country the accolade as being peaceful.

This accolade is one that has come with some special pride and honour as it is referred to in matters of peaceful elections in Africa.

However, since time changes and some people decide to go the miscreant way, it is always necessary to follow time-tested practices that have benefited the larger society.

This is why the signing of the peace pact should be deemed significant, even though some people have some reservations about it.

This is normal because we live in a world where people have divergent views about even things whose authenticity has been proven beyond all reasonable doubts.

Don’t forget there are ideologues in the system.

What is important now is following the tenets of the pact to avoid incidents that have the potential to mar peaceful polls in the country.

One thing is that the results, particularly that of the presidential polls, become the break point for incidents that mar the peacefulness of elections.

This, therefore, is where the appeal from the Electoral Commission (EC) to all political parties to accept the results of the upcoming elections is very critical.

However, the question is, should the parties and their candidates fold their arms and accept the results even where some unfairness or cheating has taken place all because they have signed a pact?

Let the EC collaborate with the relevant stakeholders and implement all measures it says it has put in place to ensure the elections are peaceful, free, fair, and transparent.

That way, the country would continue to enjoy its recognition as a peaceful nation.

That way, it would continue to attract investments, both local and external, to boost its development.