Opare Addo urges NDC to reject confrontational politics ahead of national elections

National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Youth Organiser, George Opare Addo, has urged the party to resist the temptation of adopting what he describes as an increasingly confrontational style of politics.

According to him, the NDC must not respond to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) newly elected leadership by simply replicating its political style.

In a Facebook post congratulating the NPP on the election of its new national executives, Mr Opare Addo said the NDC’s forthcoming national executive elections should be used to determine the political direction the party wants to pursue.

“The NDC must not answer the NPP by becoming the NPP,” he said.

He argued that the NDC should compete through ideas, policy, organisation and intellectual strength rather than aggression, intimidation or political confrontation.

“We must compete with ideas. We must compete with organisation. We must compete with policy. We must compete with intellectual strength,” he stated.

Mr Opare Addo stressed that there was a distinction between being politically tough and being politically violent, as well as between mobilisation and intimidation.

“There is a difference between being politically tough and being politically violent. There is a difference between mobilisation and intimidation. There is a difference between political competition and political warfare,” he said.

He cautioned that Ghana must not cross the line into political violence and urged political parties to prioritise democratic mobilisation.

“The answer to aggressive politics cannot be greater aggression. The answer to political intimidation cannot be political intimidation of our own. The answer to violence must be a stronger commitment to democratic mobilisation,” he added.

His comments come after the NPP elected new national executives at its national delegates conference over the weekend.

The newly elected leadership includes John Boadu as National Chairman, Justin Kodua Frimpong as General Secretary, Titus Glover as National Organiser and Abanga Fuseini as National Youth Organiser.

Mr Opare Addo congratulated the NPP on its new leadership but said the development should also trigger a broader conversation about the direction of Ghanaian politics.

He questioned whether political parties were increasingly becoming defined by aggressive mobilisation and political combat at the expense of ideas, intellectual persuasion and national consensus.

“What has become of Ghanaian politics?” he asked.

“Have we reduced politics to who can shout the loudest? Have we reduced youth mobilisation to who can produce the biggest crowd? Have we reduced party organisation to who can intimidate the opponent?”

For him, political parties must ultimately remember that their purpose extends beyond winning elections.

He said Ghana’s young people, in particular, deserve political organisations that challenge them intellectually and address issues such as jobs, education, businesses and their future.

“They deserve politics that tells them what is possible rather than politics that teaches them to hate the other side,” he said.

Mr Opare Addo further called for the development of a political culture in which parties can be fierce competitors while remaining responsible in the exercise of power.

He said the ultimate objective of politics should not be merely to capture power but to build a better Ghana.