Accra, Sept. 5, GNA - The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) on Friday called for an Eminent Citizens Forum to defuse the political tension as well as serve as a platform for political tolerance.

"The Political tension, suspicion and antagonism in a non-election year is a very dangerous development and a sure recipe for disaster in an election year," Mr Laary Bimi, NCCE Chairman, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

"As civic communicators, NCCE believes the establishment of the Forum to serve as a non-partisan think-tank to mediate, counsel and harness unity among political leaders and the entire citizenry would reduce the volatile political environment and save the nation from mishaps in the future."

He said the Commission has initiated an interactive meeting with all political parties on the dangers, impact and the wholesale consumption of political talks by their teeming supporters and the need for consolidation of the culture of democracy. Mr Bimi also appealed to the leadership of the parties to carry the cordiality existing among them behind the scenes over to their supporters in the open to demonstrate the concept of agreeing to disagree in politics.

He told the GNA that the Commission has met with executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), Convention People's Party (CPP), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the EGLE on the issue.

The People's National Convention (PNC), Democratic People's Party (DPP) and National Reform Party (NRP) are yet to meet the Commission. Mr Bimi said the unstable political environment calls for sustained civic education and urged the parties to include this in their manifestoes.

He reminded the parties to abide by the dictates of the Code of Conduct for Political Parties adopted in 2000 that aimed at levelling the political playing field, set standards for politicians and bring a positive development into Ghana's multi-party democracy.

Mr Bimi said the pledge by the parties was being keenly watched by Ghanaians and expressed the hope that the spirit that motivated the creation of the Code would enlighten the path of its enforcement. He said the growing culture of political violence and intimidation suggests that the parties failed to educate their members on the tenets of the Code.

Mr Bimi stressed that it is important to furnish party activists, who physically attack each other out of political differences with the contents of the Code.

The Code, among other things, enjoins all parties and their agents to avoid defamatory, derogatory and insulting attacks on rival parties or individual personalities by any form of communication, written or verbal.

Though it allows for criticism of opponents, it specifies that this must be done during electioneering.

He said the party executives including the Chairman of the NPP, Mr Haruna Esseku, The Chairman of the NDC, Dr Obed Asamoah, the General Secretary of the NDC Dr Nii Josia Aryeh, the Leader of the GCPP, Mr Dan Lartey, unanimously condemned some utterances of both past and present leaders that inflamed passions.

They also urged NCCE to intensify education on political tolerance and the role of political parties.

He said the Commission presented 12 sets of Constitution Game, 10 copies of the Abridged Constitution and a copy of the 1992 Constitution to each of the parties for their libraries.