About 8,964 delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have converged on the Accra Sports Stadium for a congress to elect national executive members to lead the party for the next four years.
The preparation for the congress gives the impression that all is going to be well, and this is exactly what the Ghanaian Times wishes the NDC.
We are happy particularly for the security arrangement and believe that the semblance of the unpleasant incident that occurred at the party's Women's and Youth Organiser elections in Cape Coast last week would not be seen at the ongoing event.
We want to particularly congratulate the NDC on the organisation of the congress and encourage it to prove its mettle as a party waiting to take up the reins of this country just as it professes.
That vision puts a great responsibility on it to show that it can handle its own problems as a mark that taking up the management of the country will not be a worry.
They have been in power before but that is not enough to assume that things will be easy for them.
Times have changed, new issues have come up, and there are new voters whose perspectives cannot be discounted.
The dynamics are numerous and all must be considered; even the whole world is watching.
Surely as elections are expected to be, there will be winners and also-rans but at the end of the day, the victory must be for all the party.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The question then is "will there be a change for new guards or a continuation of the old order?"
Whatever happens, there must be a show of sportsmanship in which case all the party members would accept the results and rally behind the new executive for the task ahead - winning the 2024 elections.
That would dovetail intothe theme for the 2-day event, 'Rallyingfor victory 2024: Ghana's hope.'
The NDC should remember that while it wants to retake power, its fiercest rival, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), is thinking of retaining power to break the myth surrounding the eight-year cycle of rein in the country, which seems to have become a convention and norm.
That is to say that the NPP will not accept that power must change hands all because they have done an eight-year reign.
Therefore, if the NDC is thinking of that convention, then it must think twice because it may or may not work.
Having said that, we would like to add that the national executive cannot perform all the tasks and do all the convincing of voters to help the party win the 2024 elections and retake power.
One group within the party whose conduct is prominently in the public glare is its caucus in parliament.
The caucus, being the Minority in the august house, must put in their best by way of good conduct and excellent performance that prioritises and emphasises the national interest rather than parochial partisan concerns.
We wish the NDC a successful congress.
