The Resurgence of the Left in World Politics, Where Is The Ghanaian Left?

Introduction

Democracy in Africa, although still hesitantly is actually taking root and political parties are reforming hitherto archaic ideologies and policies to make them relevant to serve the many needs of the African people. The left-wing leaders (Lula, Chavez, Kirchner, Morales and Bachelet) who have come to dominate Latin American politics are the products of the rise of the ‘new left’ in world politics. There was a near-miss in Peru and Mexico. Elections in Nicaragua have returned an old Marxist (Daniel Ortega) to power. Leftist Rafael Correa of Ecuador is set for victory in the presidential election. This leftist wave is bound to continue in other places. Criticisms are pouring in from the champions of western democracy. The criticisms are valid, but in themselves they hardly amount to the dawn of a new left-wing tyranny. In all these leftist governments, barring Cuba, the opposition is very active and vociferous, the ballot secret, press freedom is guaranteed, and the judiciary still function; there is definitely no sign that prison cells are receiving political inmates.

At the end of the Cold War it was assumed that, in future, politics would be essentially consensual and drained of divisive ideological content. It was claimed that the world had shifted dramatically and permanently to the political Right. And some even regarded any discussion of socialism in the twenty first century as pointless. Socialism, the critics say is dead and obituaries had been written. The evidence to sustain this view is all too familiar, the performance of newly independent African states and the collapse of the Eastern block. Politics has continued to operate within the traditional parties and the language of Left and Right though the traditional ideological content has been modified. Politics is organised around movements based on competing ideas and these can broadly be characterised as Left and Right. The Left encompasses Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, and ‘Liberals’ with many profound differences but some unifying ideology. Those on the democratic Right are described as Conservatives/Liberals. The French Revolution of 1789 gave birth to the concepts of Left and Right. Liberal parties are defined here as those parties adhering liberal values: freedom, democracy and social justice. The main sub-labels are social-liberal for the more progressive liberal parties and conservative liberal for the more traditional or classical liberal parties. The resurgence of the democratic left in Europe and Latin America, albeit in a modified form, has shown that progressive politics is still relevant to contemporary developments.

Where is the Ghanaian Left?

Since the inception of the Fourth Republic and the return to multi-party democracy in Ghana, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the other Nkrumahist parties especially the People’s National Convention (PNC) have been struggling to find their right positions in the political arena. The following results were registered by the parties in general elections since 1992.PNC; 1992(6.7%), 1996(0.1%), 2000(2.5%), 2004 ‘Grand Coalition’ (1.9%), and the CPP 2000(1.8%) and 2004(1.0%). The parties, CPP and PNC performance put together in general elections since 1992; (to put it mildly) is a big disgrace to the memory of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, the greatest African leader of all time (BBC African of the Millennium).

This article is an attempt to stimulate debate. The Nkrumahist parties registered abysmal results starting from the 1992 general elections and suffered the same fate in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections, even after they had entered into alliances with other opposition parties to contest the elections.The Nkrumahist parties have only managed single digits in all the general elections they contested.The Ghanaian left's fragmentation and its indifference to the heritage of Nhrumahism has allowed a more flexible democratic Right to reorganize itself and be attractive to voters to win elections in 2000 and 2004. It is taking the Nkrumahist parties a very long time to come to terms with the meaning of 1966 and 1981.

A New Direction and New Image

Political debate is flourishing on radio stations, on theTV,in drinking bars, in ‘tro-tros’ (minibuses), offices and living rooms across the country. There is talk of a ‘third force’ in Ghanaian politics, but where is that third force? Today the official opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), dominate political discourse in Ghana and they are the only two groups which stand a realistic chance of retaining or winning-back the presidency come 2008. Presently it would seem that Ghanaians have just two serious political groupings to choose from come 2008. There are many reports of merger talks between the Nkrumahist fraternity, but nothing of substance has come out of these talks. The parties claim they are working on the quite, but the fact is that modern politics is not done in back rooms. Many Ghanaians see the Nkrumahist front as hopelessly split and unelectable. This perception may change once there is a united front, but at the moment there is none. Socialist parties who are governing in some African states came to power through merging with like minded parties (President Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) or the African National Congress of President Mbeki). Mainstream politics now requires more convincing long-term policies and flexible ideologies that have the potential of solving problems. In China, Brazil, India and the former Communist world there is now a broad consensus that private ownership and competitive markets should prevail, albeit with effective state supervision. And even where there has been some retreat – as with the nationalisation of resources such as oil and gas – it has been for nationalistic rather than socialistic reasons (Bolivia’s Morales and Venezuela’s Chavez, have exhibited both). Even in cases where the consequences of radical liberalisation has been brutally painful and not successful as it is the case with many African countries, there has been little nostalgia for the ideas of the left.

Parties of the left that are governing and are more politically successful did so by moving to occupy the centre-ground (centre-left). Tony Blair (British PM) was the first European politician to grasp, instinctively and intuitively, the historic change. With daring he repositioned Britain's Labour Party, a classic 20th century class, welfare and statist party, as a new political organism to occupy the centre-ground, one that would embrace rather than defy economic modernity and seek to harness its strengths to provide the needed tax revenue for social investment. The ‘New Labour’ model – moving the party to the centre to make it more appealing to middle class voters – has been replicated in many countries. For instance, Portugal and Spain, isolated for decades from the centre of European politics, both now have centre-left governments headed by José Socrates and José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero respectively. Italy’s Romano Prodi’s coalition is also a centre-left government. Furthermore, the French Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party) is repositioning itself to occupy the Élysée Palace in 2007. Even the Chinese Communists of the far left have also embraced capitalism and globalisation to the chagrin of the promoters of Western capitalism. Elections are increasing won from the centre-ground and not by pandering to the radical left. The crux of the matter is that the Ghanaian left has remained wedded to 20th-century models of political organisation and policy. The Nkrumahist parties need a new direction and new thinking. The plain fact is that the parties as they stand are not electable where elections to be conducted today. Political differences especially among the old guards, on the focus and direction and who was capable of leading an Nkrumahist fraternity has bedevilled its front since 1992.

A New kind of politics

The future of the Ghanaian left demands re-examination of the concept of Nkrumahism. And to get there requires a civil war on the old guards – and a defeat of the far-left (hard liners) who have so damaged the party’s standing in Ghanaian politics. The youth within the party must rise up and purge the party’s leadership of the old-guards. The post-1966 generation Ghanaians can’t make sense of what Nkrumahism is all about. And the danger is that a majority of this group forms the voting public. The party has become a national joke following the rise of the laughably unelectable presidential candidates. The call by The Patriot (Daily Graphic, 24/11/06, p.8) for the party’s leadership to provide education on “what the CPP stands for (ideology and policies),”CPP’s relevance in today’s Ghana” among others couldn’t have come at better time. The party’s leadership are forever mouthing the mantra that the Nkrumahist are poised to win elections in 2008(GNA 15/11/06), rather than hitting upon the truth that the leadership has failed the masses. Change is what the party needs; it must present itself as the most viable alternative to the ‘Liberal’ NDC and the ‘Conservative’ NPP. The figures presented above illustrating the declining fortunes of the parties say it all. According many political scientists the strong showing by the opposition NDC in the 2004 elections leaves little doubt that it is the government in waiting. The parties CPP and PNC on their own have only manage single digits in all the elections they contested. Why not merge? The squabbles over party name and a symbol clearly shows leadership failure. The CPP as a mass movement held political power for nine years (1957-66). The PNC (PNP as it was known) on the other hand held political power for two years and three months (1979-81). One therefore finds it very hard to understand why symbols such as the red cockerel and the coconut tree should stand in the way of unity. We are in an age where a party logo means little to the voter. Most parties in the world have overhauled their corporate identities with no squabbles. The Conservative Party in UK (a party of the establishment) has just snuffed out their burning torch symbol, introduced at the height of the party's power under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Senior party figures have privately recognized that it must be revised to help attract young and ethnic minority voters. The re-branding exercise resulted in the unveiling of a new party logo in the just ended October party conference. The new blue and green scribbled tree has replaced the flaming torch which has represented the Tories since 1977. Although it received a revamp under Michael Howard two years ago, new party leader David Cameron decided a more modern logo was needed to reflect a changed party. The British Labour party was the first to rebrand the party’s image after 17 years in opposition. The Labour party original 'liberty' logo, was replaced with a red rose logo created under Neil Kinnock in the 1980s, after Peter Mandelson, then director of communications, sought to distance the party from its socialist red flag image. The Labour party is a century’s old, but the party leadership found it necessary to re-brand the party to reflect modern trends. And since re-branding to ‘New Labour’, the party has won three consecutive general elections in the UK. Choosing a logo acceptable to all the Nkrumahist parties is possible. Parties are becoming more heterogeneous. Parties have to reach out to other like minded groups in the economy. In this context, it is important that a unified Nkrumahist party in Ghana acts as a bridge between the NDC and the NPP. The new party should aim to occupy the centre-ground. The new politics in the world is not defined by a single ideology, a single party manifesto, or a single party logo. The 21st-century left cannot be based on organised labour. Trade unions are a component part and vital ally but the new alliance for progressive reformism requires a much broader base of political support.

The Way forward

A united Nkrumahist party can turn its forces on the true opponents of progressive politics - the right-wing parties which reject social obligations to promote non-inclusive wealth accumulation. A new and unified Nkrumahist party can offer Ghanaians the much touted ‘third force’ thereby giving the voter a choice. Again a broad-based unified Nkrumahist party must always have a future project rather than merely a past record (or, worse, a nostalgia which rarely is in tune with new political problems and younger strata of voters). Defining a political development agenda for the ‘volatile’ economic, social, and cultural issues of modern Ghana requires constant adaptation and renewal. An issue like globalization which did not feature as a problem for 20th-century socialism now requires an answer. The test for any serious opposition party is not whether you can secure striking headlines and snappy soundbites, but whether you can match the rhetoric with substance. It is a test that the current Nkrumahist leadership has failed. Political parties need to reinvent themselves to address the numerous problems and demands of modern Ghanaian citizens. The age of the mass party is dead; the age of the new – mobile, accountable, committed to change, in an active relationship with its members and with society – is starting. If globalization, its technologies and cultural impacts, is transforming the nature of politics, what models are available to a unified single Nhrumahist party hoping to govern Ghana in 2009?

Conclusion

The Ghanaian Left only exists in name. Political parties are the vehicles through which elections are won. All parties want to participate to some extent in the exercise of political power. This is done by forming a government or by being in the opposition. For almost fourteenth years the leftist parties in Ghana have not participated in any meaningful way to the running of the state. The combined strength of the parties’ legislators is less than 1%. All genuine Nkrumahists have an obligation to work within the party framework to solve problems and adopt priories and solve personality conflict before the 2008 general election. There is no monopoly of ideas and propositions. Are the CPP and PNC ready to merge? Are the parties to ready to adopt one modified ideology? Are the parties ready to compromise to accommodate others views? There will be a single party once answers are found to these questions.High achievers such as Dr. Kwabena Duffour (former Governor of the Bank of Ghana), Professor Akosah (The Director-General of the Ghana Medical Services), Dr. Kwesi Ndoum (Minister for Public Sector Reform in the current NPP government), Dr. Edward Mahama (Leader of the PNC) among others are names on the list of people supposedly vying for the leadership of the yet-to-be-formed party. In order to prepare any of these prominent figures who eventually gets the opportunity to lead this great and historic party, it is important that the merger process is quicken to give the elected leader more time to plan and strategize for the 2008 elections. The Nkrumahist parties face a monumental task, miracles do indeed happen, but it is very hard to know where and when these are going to happen, or to understand the factors making such transformations possible. Now is the time for united front and a single party.