The Sankofa Convention People’s Youth Movement, a pressure group in the Convention People’s Party (CPP), is calling for a debate among the Party’s presidential aspirants before the national delegates’ congress to choose their flag bearer.
It said in a statement in Accra that the 2012 election would focus mainly on issues, especially job creation, and that the CPP needed a credible, well-informed presidential candidate, who would be able to stand against any of his or her opponents on any platform to debate on national and international issues.
It said the unemployment situation was very serious and it called for a holistic national approach to resolve it.
The group called on the Central Committee of the Party to collaborate with other related organizations to immediately prepare the ground for such a presidential debate among the potential aspirants.
“The delegates and the nation as a whole need to assess the CPP presidential aspirants, to know their capabilities as to which of them is capable of governing the nation, since governing is not based on empty popularity, party manifestos and political platform promises.”
The group urged CPP activists and the other aspirants to be circumspect in the comments they made to maintain unity and cohesion.
“Aspirants and their activists should be held responsible when their comments create tension and mar the cordial and peaceful ties in the party.”
The group said the CPP had a bright chance of winning the 2012 election because both the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (CPP) had failed woefully to continue the legacy bequeathed to them by the CPP.
“The CPP during its tenure of office established the needed infrastructure including schools, roads, hospitals, pipe borne water and rehabilitated the ports. What was left was the management of this infrastructure but unfortunately both the NDC and NPP have woefully failed to bring economic freedom to the people,” the group said.
It said the policies of the NDC and NPP had thrown many people out of jobs and impoverished many Ghanaians.
“The NDC and the NPP have killed the already existing jobs, putting many Ghanaians on the streets, a trend which is bound to continue if not halted immediately.
“The CPP has done it before and when given the mandate in 2012, will create jobs to bring smiles back on the faces of Ghanaians.”
The group said the party needed to mobilize enough funds and secure the right logistics for an effective campaign, adding that it also needed to increase its membership and must start talking with those who had left the party to return.