The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has expressed concern over what he describes as a recurring cycle of political attacks whenever power changes hands.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with JoyNews on Wednesday, February 19, he lamented the tendency of successive governments to target their political opponents rather than focusing on governance and national development.
“If you win power, you don’t use it to dislodge another person,” he stated.
“And I also must admit that since Kufuor’s era, the political class hasn’t done well with the management of power, all of us. I’m not blaming one side, all of us – NPP, NDC, we’ve not done well with the management of power.
[embedded content]“We are not learning lessons. We win power and the next thing is to go after your opponent and for how long can you do that? Three months, six months, people will get even tired of you.”
Mr Afenyo-Markin criticised the notion that demonising opponents translates to political popularity, asserting that such tactics are ineffective.
He described the trend as an unfortunate cycle that repeats itself every election cycle, with the incoming party using its power to attack its predecessors.
“Sometimes we feel that by demonising the opponent, you will become popular. It doesn’t work that way, and maybe we are yet to learn lessons but I think that it’s very unfortunate that this has become a vicious cycle, that every four years or eight years, a party wins coming into power, and we want to attack the opponent.”
The Effutu MP also revealed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had allegedly instructed its backbench MPs to interrupt him whenever he speaks in Parliament.
However, he dismissed these attempts, stating that such actions would not deter him from making his point.
“The NDC went into a meeting and the decision was that anytime I rose to speak, their back bench should start shouting. But I said these guys, whoever gave you this idea has not helped you that when the Minority Leader is on his feet, get up and be shouting. I’m not the type that when you shout, it will break me down. I will make my point,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin noted that despite the NDC having an overwhelming majority in Parliament, they often struggle to fill their seats.
He noted that on several occasions, his party had counted fewer than 104 NDC MPs in the chamber.
The Minority leader cautioned the NDC against antagonising the Minority, stressing that bipartisan cooperation was essential for effective governance.
“At any point you will need the minority to broad concerns, to take decisions so you don’t antagonise the minority. You don’t attack the minority that you think that if you suppress them, that is when you will be seen as clean,” he warned.
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