The Majority Caucus in Parliament is calling for a debate between the two leading presidential candidates, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and John Dramani Mahama.
According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament, the two candidates engaging in a presidential debate will enable the electorate to make informed decisions in the December 7 elections.
The call was made by the Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, in an interview with the press in Parliament.
The Effutu MP, who is the leader of government business in the House, is confident of the achievements of the Akufo-Addo government, arguing that the debate will reveal the party that is ready to serve.
Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin said, “For Ghanaians to really know who is who, who is ready to address the challenges in the economy, he (John Mahama) should join in debate.”
“Let the two of them debate on the issues; nobody should run away from the debate and it is only through a debate that we will know who is truly ready to run the economy of this country.”
The Majority Leader continued that “We, the Majority Caucus, are by this calling on President John Dramani Mahama, former President of Ghana and Flagbearer of the NDC, not to run away from the debate. Not to stay away from debating Dr. Bawumia.
“We are not afraid of the facts and the figures, we are not afraid of our track record, we know that we have not achieved a hundred percent success, we concede that there are challenges, but we are far better in terms of governance,” he added.
ISSUE BASED
The position of the NPP MPs is that their candidate is well fortified to tell the story of the government and the party, based on facts and figures.
He said that the NPP’s campaign machinery does not believe in politics of insults and name-calling, but on comparing track records.
He stated that, “We don’t believe in politics of name-calling, politics of insults, politics of insinuations and all. We believe that the facts can speak for themselves. And the only way to give Ghanaians the opportunity to compare and to look at which of the two parties really have them at heart is for us to have a debate.
“So, the NDC should not run away from any debate, there should be no excuses for debate. Debate is the only means of determining who is best suited to run the country from 2025,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
NO DEBATE
The call for a presidential debate between the two leading candidates surfaced just after the Biden and Trump encounter in the CNN presidential debate.
The flag bearer of the ruling NPP has openly challenged his main contender, John Dramani Mahama to a debate, but it has been shot down by assigns of the latter.
The Spokesperson of the former president, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, sees no point in her boss debating the NPP presidential candidate.
She is not alone on the call, as some MPs on the Minority Caucus have shared the same positions, especially following the call from the Majority Leader.
For the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the presidential candidate of the NPP, Dr. Bawumia, is only fit to debate the minority spokespersons on the finance and economy, Isaac Adongo, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan and Thomas Nyarko Ampem.
ATTEMPTS
Last week, news broke that the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) was planning a presidential debate. But the office of former president Mahama rubbished the move, stating that the NDC was not aware of the plans and that it would not take part in any debate.
Also, a policy think tank, IMANI Africa, announced plans to hold a presidential debate. It said that invitations had been sent to the offices of the two candidates.
Though the office of Dr. Bawumia is yet to respond, that of Mr. Mahama had responded, but IMANI Africa did not reveal the content.
