President J. A. Kufuor in his last sectional address to Parliament yesterday bemoaned his inability to hand over to his party's Presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo.

"Naturally, Mr. Speaker, I had hoped that after my tenure I will be succeeded by a candidate from my own political tradition, but as things have turned out, the Electoral Commissioner has declared that the electorate of Ghana has decided otherwise," the outgoing President lamented. He subsequently congratulated the President-Elect, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills for his victory.

President Kufuor in his address supported a call made by the former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Press Secretary, Vicent Assiseh, for the extension of the current four-year tenure of office by the President of Ghana. About nine years ago, Mr. Vincent Assiseh stirred controversy when he called for the extension of office of the President from the current four years to seven.

The wider public, who saw it as an attempt to extend the tenure of office of the then President Rawlings, rejected this suggestion. Years down the line, President Kufuor has resurrected the debate, but this time limiting the extension to five years, instead of the seven years that was suggested by Assiseh.

The outgoing President observed that the tenure of four years for a Developing Country like Ghana needed to be reviewed, since the State Institutions of governance were weak. "This is especially so, for an incumbent who though popular, may lack the requisite experience at the point of assuming office," he said.

President Kufuor cited Malaysia and Singapore as examples of countries that have chalked great successes as a result of stability and longer tenure of the executive leadership.

He acknowledged that political parties were not only for elections, but were also veritable nurturing grounds for leadership development in the interest of society, adding that they could as well bridge many divides within the nation including ethnic, religious, ideological and gender.

He denounced how every move of the government was politicised or deliberately misconstrued to negatively promote a culture of instant gratifications and unrealistic expectations for the benefit of the opposing party.

"If politicians across the board continue to criticize programmes and policies of incumbent governments just to score political points, they may in the long run breed cynicism, undermine the whole political system and weaken democracy to everybody's disadvantage," he stressed.

President Kufuor advised Parliament to strife hard to curb this negative tendency so it does not become endemic. He drew the attention of the parliamentarians to the permanent tenure of the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, recommending that there should be a specific tenure of office.

"Consideration might be given to a six-year two-term arrangement, overlapping Parliament, where renewal of appointment of Commissioners is vested in an Electoral College," he reiterated.

Again, the President indicated that the adaptation of the doctrine of separation of powers between the legislature and the executive posed a vexed question, adding that the combination of the position of a Minister and parliamentarian in one person could lead to under performance.

The out-going President also expressed grave concern over the polarization of the nation and prevailed upon Prof. Mills, the incoming President to unite the nation.

According to him, the current polarization would not help in developing the nation, and to move it from its current status to the second world class.

He also noted that his government was consistently kept on its toes by the opposition. He however, said some of his opponents criticised him with sinister motive. "Every action of government is put under constant scrutiny for questioning, while a spin is put on almost every policy," he said.

He added that such attitude turned to ignore the need for gestation periods for programmes, and thereby promotes a negative culture of instant gratification and unrealistic expectations, which are often exploited for undue political gain.

Mr. Kufuor noted that if politicians across the board continue to criticize programmes and policies of incumbent government just to score political gains, they might in the long run breed cynicism, undermine the whole political system and above all weaken democracy to everybody's disadvantage.He was of the view that the parliament house was well placed to curb such negative tendencies so that it does not become endemic.

President Kufuor, sounding dispassionate and like a statesman, urged the President-elect to continue with the policies and programmes of his administration. He specifically mentioned the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and others. To him, parliament must play its watchdog role in the governance of the nation.

President Kufuor also noted some gains that he chalked under his regime, through interaction with international communities across the globe. According to him, he has been able to interact with the entire leadership of the world and was of the view that his interactions were of tremendous benefit to the citizenry.

He called for accountability on the part of government, the adherence to the rule of law and urged that due process must be upheld in resolving problems of the state.