PPP delegation attends Lib Democrats Confab
A three-member delegation from the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) will be participating in the three-day pre-election conference of the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool in the United Kingdom.
The delegation is led by Mr Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, the party’s National Secretary. The other members are Ms Belinda Bulley, the National Women’s Coordinator and Paa Kow Ackon, Deputy National Secretary and Director of Elections.
Spring Conference
The March 13-15, 2015 Liverpool Spring Conference, among other objectives, is aimed at helping participants to acquire key skills in campaigning through master classes and study sessions.
It will also help them to gain practical experience through shadowing constituency teams and sharing best practices on how to use election campaign tools with other liberal parties.
The PPP participated in a competition where 12 individuals from different political parties across the world were selected to attend the pre-election conference of the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool.
Mr Paa Kow Ackon scored the highest in the competition.
PPP’s Expectations
According to Mr Asamoah-Siaw, the PPP’s expectation is knowledge-sharing and having the opportunity to learn best practices in political organisation.
He said the delegation hoped to come back home to implement the ideas to increase the presence and electoral fortunes of the PPP in Ghana.
He said they were determined to showcase the PPP as the best alternative political party in Ghana to the international community and that the party had the best practical policies and programmes that could benefit the people.
“We will take the opportunity to also interact with PPP members in the UK to brief them on our activities back home and engage in media events aimed at providing direct answers to Ghanaians in the Diaspora on our policies and programmes,” he stated.
Background
The PPP is a member of the Africa Liberal Network (ALN). The ALN was launched in June 2003 as an alliance of African liberal democratic political parties. The ALN is also affiliated to Liberal International, the political family that liberal democratic parties belong to.
The Liberal International was founded in 1947. It has become the pre-eminent network for promoting liberalism, strengthening liberal parties and for the promotion of liberal democracy around the world. There are a number of common principles which unite all liberal parties from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. They include human rights; free and fair elections and multiparty democracy; social justice; tolerance, social market economy; free trade; environmental sustainability; and a strong sense of international solidarity.
The PPP attended the ALN General Assembly Meeting held in Marrakech, Morocco, from November 27 to 30, 2014. At the Moroccan conference, the ALN adopted the 12-point Marrakech Declaration on Human Rights. The conference adopted the PPP’s policy on education as part of the declarations. It was stated in paragraph four that “Understanding that education is the route to raising awareness of civil and human rights, and to develop the skills needed for employment, developing the skills and opportunities of the next generation, we will work towards the universal compulsory introduction of free primary and secondary education for every girl and boy in Africa.”