The statement of the NPP condemning its members for assaulting a journalist is a step in the right direction. There have been incidents in the past when journalists or political opponents have been assaulted and political leaders looked on or even defended the assailants.

This must stop. It is against the code of conduct of the interparty committee to which political parties belong.

It is often said prevention is better than cure. What the NPP leadership should do, and this applies to all political parties, is to prevent recurrence by enlightening their membership on these issues so that they do not engage in insults, character assassination, violence and so on.

We must move away from dirty politics to clean politics. Each candidate should simply explain what he or she intends to do if elected.