Insults Do Not Win Power � Veep

Vice President of Ghana John Mahama has advised politicians to desist from hurling insults at each other as it does not help win political power. According to him, it is not healthy for politicians to hurl insults at each other, arguing that it betrays the trust of the people. Rather, a dispassionate discussion on national issues is what will win the day for politicians. �Our political discourse is becoming very aggressive, very hostile, and day in day out in the media we find people on different sides of the political divide hurling insults at each other. �The thing is in politics, I don�t know anywhere in the world where insults have won a person political power. Insults will not win you power. It is not how much you are able to insult your opponent that will let you win an election. It is the issues that concern the people and the discussions of those issues and how the people feel and believe that one political party or another is the one that can best serve their purpose. That is what is going to determine the election, and not how much one can insult.� Mr Mahama gave the advise moments after the leadership of the Alhussuna Wal Jamaal called for political decorum during a presentation of bags of rice and sugar to the various Muslim groupings in the country by government on Monday August 8, 2011 to help them in their month of fasting. The leadership of the Ahlussuna Wal Jamaal sect expressed concern about the politics of insults which is gradually taking over the nation�s political landscape. The Vice President�s comments come days after a deputy Minister of Tourism James Agyenim Boateng and the Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party traded insults at a live programme on an Accra-based radio station. Vice President John Mahama appealed to civil society to also join in the call for order in the nation�s political discourse. Meanwhile, government has applied for a bigger quota for Ghana for this year�s Hajj pilgrimage. Vice President John Mahama assured the national Chief Iman that government will ensure that this year�s pilgrimage is devoid of problems. He however advised that timelines for the pilgrimage should strictly be adhered to. �This year we�ve introduced some reforms and we are hoping that the faithful who want to perform the Hajj will note these reforms and abide by them. This year we�ve increased the quota to 3,500 so it means that anybody who wants to travel can be safely accommodated.�