GCPP to deliver people from their economic woes
Mr. Dan Lartey the leader of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) has promised that a Dan Lartey-led government will increase salaries of workers by 400% when voted into power. Mr. Lartey was speaking last Friday in an interview with the ADM on a number of national issues.

One of the most influential think-tanks in the country, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) was also taken on by the GCPP leader who challenged the constitutionality of the Institute's call for a presidential debate ahead of the December presidential and parliamentary elections.

"IEA has no constitutional standing" he told ADM, "they have not been asked by the constitution to do all the things they have been doing; they have created onto themselves a situation where they want to be kingmakers."

He told ADM that IEA had "put in place four political parties: NPP, NDC, CPP and PNC, financially supporting them since 2003 with money from the Netherlands Institute of Multi-party Democracy this is something the constitution itself is not allowing, no foreign force must control our elections and that is what the IEA is doing, IEA is unconstitutional." There was no comment from IEA when Mr. Lartey's opinion was brought to the attention of the Institute.

Mr. Lartey was surprisingly gracious on the government's proposal to re-equip the Ghana Air Force with new aircraft including one for executive travel. He told ADM that "re- equipping the Air Force is necessary; my contention is that, it is ill-equipped, so all the efforts to bring the Air Force up to standard are what I am supporting."

On the proposed talk-time tax by the government, which is expected to create jobs, he said, "I cannot see how the government will create jobs through talk-tax; the country itself has enough resources which can used to maximize production, if they don't know this and have continued to go by IMF conditionalities which has landed them in this mess then they have to reconsider their positions, their actions have not benefited this country, the people are in distress, they are not going to have a third chance."

Mr. Lartey said workers' salaries for the past forty years have not been reviewed against the high cost of living and "people are hungry, their salaries can hold for only a week or less." It is for this reason that he would increase salaries by 400%! On his campaign message, he said, "I cannot see why we are going to leave domestication as a concept to pursue other concepts which have no bearing on the development of the nation; domestication is a concept that should be the basis of the country's development."

Predicting victory in the December elections, he said "plans are afoot to take over power from the NPP government." The electorate, he said, is the final arbiter which "will judge the NPP government according to the results." As at now, he concluded, "members of the public know exactly that they are hungry and must go to the GCPP to deliver people from their economic woes"

The GCPP is expected to go to congress to elect its national executives on May 25 and would no doubt reconfirm Mr. Lartey as the sole presidential candidate.