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The Women's Wing of the People’s National Convention (PNC) has called on voters to shift their support from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the PNC at the December 7 general election.
That, it said, had become necessary since the two leading political parties had not done anything good for the country. The acting National Women's Organiser of the PNC, Patience Lamisi Johnson, made the call at a press conference at Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital. The press conference followed a three-day sensitisation seminar for women in the party drawn from six regions of the country.
The event with the theme: "Strengthening Capacities of Women, Youth and Persons with Disability (PWDs) Candidates”, was to fine-tune the participants in taking active roles in the PNC and politics in general.
Mrs Johnson said the time had now come for Ghanaian voters to do away with the two leading political parties — the NPP and the NDC, which had been alternating power every eight years since the inception of the Fourth Republic from 1992 to date but had not made a significant impact on the lives of Ghanaians.
She stated that women should also be supported to take political office and that voters needed their support.
Mrs Johnson noted that it was in that direction that the PNC would be filling 40 per cent of its parliamentary candidates to be women in the forthcoming general election.
She explained that democracy strove when diverse voices were heard and represented and that supporting women from various political backgrounds would strengthen the fabric of the country's multiparty system.
Mrs Johnson called on Parliament to prioritise and pass the Affirmative Action Bill into law. That, she indicated, was a crucial legislation essential in addressing the systematic barriers that hindered women's full participation in politics.
Mrs Johnson further stated that enacting such a bill would ensure that women would not be marginalised or erased from the political landscape of Ghana. The Acting PNC National Women's Organiser said it was in that direction that the PNC pledged in its 1999 manifesto to establish a ministry for women and children.
She said the PNC still stood firm in its commitment to promoting gender equality and empowering women. Mrs Johnson added that every Ghanaian, regardless of gender, had an equal opportunity to contribute to the progress and prosperity of the country.
With regards to the PNC's chances at the December 7 polls, Mrs Johnson said the party was poised for victory and also to ensure that most of its female parliamentary candidates win their seats.
