A few days into the 2024 general elections, the political parties and independent candidates are eagerly winding up their campaigns and implementing the various strategies and plans they have been using in campaigning to attract Ghanaian voters.
To win in such an election depends on the kind of campaign messages put together, strategies and plans used to reach out to their target audience who are usually supporters of other political parties and sometimes floating voters who need to be convinced before voting for a particular party or candidate.
Despite getting the best manifestoes and all other policies the political parties want to use as their campaign message, Ghana’s general elections are always won by the party that is able to use the smartest strategies to communicate their ideas and manifestoes to the electorate across the country.
This does not matter what you tell your supporters in the party’s “Strong Holds” which usually give the political parties a huge number of votes during such elections.
Role of manifesto
Before every general election, the various political parties, independent candidates usually come out with their manifestoes outlining the various policies and initiatives they would be implementing when elected into office as a government.The manifesto usually paint a picture of the vision and strategies expected to be implemented by the candidate or the political party in question.
Calibre of Candidates
Aside from the party or candidate’s manifesto, the most important factor most people consider before voting for a party is the calibre of the person selected as the party’s flagbearer.This is where many factors such as educational background, integrity, creativity and innovativeness of the person, personality, political experience, temperament, maturity and ability to solve challenges among others.
Based on this, political parties are supposed to be very careful in selecting a Flagbearer to avoid picking someone who can easily be “Insulted due to his past records.”
What to watch
In the past, many people considered the state of the nation’s economy, state of security, availability of electricity and other resources among others before voting but the trend has changed with modern era.
Some of the new issues many people consider before voting are the manifesto of the party or candidate, state of education development, infrastructure, security, the calibre of the person leading the party, and the past records of the candidates (very critical factors in their past positions).
It is worth noting that the substance in the messages of the political parties could attract groups to campaign for a particular political party. The past records of the political parties, for example in Ghana, it is easy to compare past records of the two leading political parties; the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress(NDC), due to the fact that they have been in power since the fourth republic.
It is, therefore, prudent for me to appeal to all Ghanaians not to allow their emotions to drive them to vote for a particular political party, but rather spend some sometime contemplating the importance and benefits of policies these candidates are promising the electorate.
For example, there is the need for the electorate to consider which of the parties has a pro-poor related vision that can benefit the majority of Ghanaians irrespective of where they are located, religion, ethnic background, social status,
Finally, I would like to appeal to all Ghanaians to avoid mistakes made in the past by just voting for candidates who were visionless, but were voted for because some Ghanaians were angry and so were punishing a political party for something some of its leaders did forgetting that the vote for visionless candidates is as dangerous as driving a vehicle that does not have light.
“Let’s us make this election the most peaceful since the rest of the world is watching us all.
By Felix A. Baidoo, Freelance Journalist
Editor’s note: Views expressed in this article do not represent that of The Chronicle
