The 1996 elections is likely to be one of the most fiercely contested in the history of the country, Ghana Review can reveal.

With the "apostles of continuity" bent on staying and with the opposition coming to terms with the fact that they have to unite or fall, there is every indication that the country is set to see one election which in more ways than one will define greatly the future of the country.

A leading member of the NPP and one of the main characters in the fight for a united opposition, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe has already warned President Rawlings that "if he tries a fast one in 1996, there will be fire". Continuing in the same vein, though with more democratic sounding tones, a member of the NPP, Mrs Asmah said at a rally at Takoradi that "if JJ steals the 1996 election, the whole country will march to the castle and stay there till he leaves".

Interesting and tense times surely lie ahead for the country. The key points of the "battle plan" of the alliance for Change include: i) getting all opposition parties to agree to come under one umbrella to fight the next election.

ii) choosing a single presidential candidate. To this end, the AFC has stated that the fact that a person is chosen as the leader of any of the constituent parties does not necessarily mean that he should be considered as the presidential candidate for the united opposition. The AFC intends that the presidential candidate is chosen carefully, and should have qualities including: a) be very matured politically b) be acceptable to all the political parties who will form the alliance c) someone who will definitely be a winner. The above may partly explain why the election for a Presidential candidate for the NPP has been postponed.

iii) For the parliamentary elections, the various parties could go as individual parties, but will collectively always present one candidate in each constituency. Where the strength of one party is not in doubt, the rest will pull their resources behind that party. Where there are doubts, a mechanism will be put in place to select one candidate.

Ghana Review will be following events very closely as the various parties attempt to merge and will inform our readers of all the relevant developments.