With barely six months to the presidential and parliamentary elections, none of the political parties has issued its manifesto for study and scrutiny by the electorate. The parties claim that their manifestos are at various stages of compilation, in draft form or being revised. The Daily Graphic came to this realisation when it contacted the political parties on their manifestos for the 2008 elections or when they would be issued or published. The parties contacted included the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People's Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP). Others are the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the United Renaissance Party (URP), the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD) and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP). The critical question many political analysts who spoke to the Daily Graphic asked the parties was the issues their flag bearers were campaigning on, since they did not have manifestos for the 2008 elections. The PNC was expected to publish its manifesto in April but Dr Edward Mahama, the party’s flag bearer, told the Daily Graphic that it had been delayed because of the volume of work involved. He said the PNC manifesto was a comprehensive document capturing all that the party intended to do in government. He said until the revised manifesto was ready, the PNC would campaign on the manifesto which it used for Election 2004. Asked whether the 2004 manifesto was not outdated, in view of current development trends, Dr Mahama explained that the essentials of that manifesto were very relevant and that the party was revising portions of it to capture emerging trends. The Communications Director of the Nana Akufo-Addo Campaign Team, Dr Kobina Arthur Kennedy, hinted that the first draft manifesto of the NPP was ready and that it was being edited. He was hopeful that by August the NPP manifesto would be formally launched. He said every effort was being made to make the working document central and nationally important so that it would be engaging to the public when it was finally published or issued out. He, however, maintained that even though the manifesto was a revised one for practical purposes, the NPP flag bearer and the party machinery were already campaigning on the ideas of their manifesto. The Chairman of the Manifesto Committee of the NDC, Mr Lee Tandoh Ocran, for his part, pointed out that his party's draft manifesto was ready and currently before the National Executive for study, recommendations and approval. He said subject to any changes by the National Executive, the manifesto would be issued out for public scrutiny to ultimately help the electorate to make informed decisions and choices. The General Secretary of the GCPP, Mr John Thompson, said his party was also revising its manifesto which, basically, placed premium on production. "We say that for the country to progress, we need to expand the economic base and stop the over-reliance on agricultural produce such as cocoa," he stated. He said that was the only way for the government to vigorously participate in the building of industry, stressing that "without government’s participation, it will take Ghana a long time to overcome poverty, squalor and under development". He said that private participation was not a panacea to the country's economic problems and that state interventions in some key sectors of the economy were paramount. "There are problems and the government of Ghana must take the lead, as the first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, did," he said. He gave the assurance that the GCPP’s manifesto would be ready after its congress, which is billed for June. "It is still in progress and we will complete it soon," he gave the assurance. Mr Bede Ziedeng of the DFP gave the assurance that the party's manifesto would be launched before the end of June. "We will be six months ahead of the elections and the document will be enough working tool for political campaign," he stated. He said one core issue entailed in the manifesto was agriculture as an instrument for the development of the country. "We are going to launch, as a political party in government, a ‘Green Revolution’ which will also place premium on providing subsidies to cover the whole gamut of the agricultural industry, including agro-chemicals, fertilisers, combined harvesters, tractors and other equipment," he added. Mr Ziedeng said if the country was able to increase agricultural output, it would bring about agro-processing and generate employment, stressing that “if agriculture is kicking, the rest of the economy will come on board". The Founder and only flag bearer aspirant of the URP, Mr Kofi Wayo, told the Daily Graphic that his party did not believe in manifestos. “A manifesto is for the communists. If you are a democrat, you have a policy paper and that is what we, as a party, will campaign on,” he said. He said the country had good policy documents and his party was ready to implement them, adding, “What this country needs are implementors and that is what the URP will offer.” The acting Chairman of the RPD, Mr Bambata, also said his party’s manifesto was in a draft stage and that would be published soon after its national congress expected on July 26 and 27. Source: Daily Graphic