The historic meeting between the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo, and former President Rawlings has been described as a demonstration of statesmanship and sincerity in politics. According to a political scientist at the University of Ghana, Dr. Alidu Saidu, the two have really portrayed to Ghanaians, and most importantly, diehard party supporters that politics is a jaw-jaw and not a war-war affairs. Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story Thursday, he said the move is significant in Ghana’s quest to achieve another milestone in organizing consecutive incident-free elections since 1992. He regarded the meeting as key from two perspectives: The event itself and the substance of the event. “The event is a true demonstration of statesmanship in Ghanaian politics. You know the problem of Ghanaian politics has to do with lack of sincerity. Leaders behave in ways that send wrong signals to the people at the grassroots level. So this particular meeting clearly demonstrates the sincerity in our politics. It also affirms, he acknowledged, that politicians though may have divergent views, they are all seeking and working for the development of the nation Ghana. “It shows that no matter who you are, those at the top, no matter the political parties they support, they are the best of friends when it comes to putting the nation first and putting politics second... we always think that once you are political opponents then you are definitely enemies.” In his response to persons who think the meeting was a mere political gimmick the NPP was employing to win votes, he emphasized that politics is about strategy. “If the NPP think that this is a right time to capture Rawlings and then to use him as a photo-shoot opportunity, and to buy into the votes of people who support him at the grassroots level, that is a very good strategy for them. And if it works for them, that is perfect; that is all what politics is about.” For NPP National Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, people who take the gesture on its face value are short term thinkers. He said the two acknowledged that the country is not going to move forward “if we are at war with each other”. “If you listen to what president Rawlings has been saying, and you listen to what Nana Akufo-Addo has been saying, they have both been calling for the development of the country.”