The perception out there in the Ghanaian public that the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), are the same is a “dangerous lie” that must not be consumed, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential nominee of the NPP, has said.

He made this comment while launching the NPP’s 2016 manifesto ahead of the December 7 presidential and parliamentary polls.

Mr Akufo-Addo said: “There is a dangerous lie out there that the two major political parties, the NDC and the NPP, are the same. We in the NPP know from whence we came, we have never had any identity crisis.”

“Right from our UGCC (United Gold Coast Convention) roots through the various incarnations to the present-day NPP, we have held firm in our belief in multiparty democracy and free market economics even when these were not fashionable ideologies on this continent of ours. We were never tempted during the many years we spent in the opposition to compromise our beliefs and when at last we had the opportunity to govern this country under President J.A. Kufuor in 2001 through to 2009, our performance demonstrated we were comfortable in our skin, to borrow a manner of speaking.

“The private sector flourished and businesses thrived. I do not propose to speak about what the NDC stands for, save to make the point that the party (NDC) had been in power for eight years. It was when they lost power (in 2000 elections) and were in opposition that they met and decided that they were social democrats. One would have thought, therefore, that our manifestos should show what we stand for. We of the NPP have always taken our manifesto seriously because we believe politics is a serious business and asking for the mandate of the people to govern is a serious business.

“Our manifesto also gives us the opportunity to reiterate our firm stand as the party of rule of law, the party of business, and the party that builds and creates wealth.”