National Democratic Congress (NDC) member Kojo Adu-Asare, the Member of Parliament for the Adentan Constituency, has admonished the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) not to see the December polls as a do and die affair. He indicated that as is the case with any election, the December 7 polls must be seen as a simple contest to win the mandate of Ghanaians to champion their goals and aspirations, not as a call to arms. Kojo Adu-Asare made this appeal on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Thursday. With seven days to the December election, political parties are vigorously campaigning nationwide to woo prospective voters and to win power. As part of their efforts to ensure a violence-free election, the eight candidates pursuing the presidency have signed a pact to eschew violence and crack the whip on members if they flout the agreement. The programme, which took place under the auspices of the Institute for Democratic and Economic Governance (IDEG) with support from Asantehene, has received commendation but some skeptics wonder whether the peace treaty is enough to ensure a peaceful election. Adu-Asare questioned the genuineness of NPP presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo’s commitment to peace before, during and after the December polls. He alleged that Akufo-Addo’s reference to violent attacks on his party members during his speech at the peace conference betrays bad intentions. “Nana Addo lost the opportunity to preach peace in Kumasi. He should have raised all his concerns before signing the Kumasi Declaration,” he said. Adu-Asare suggested that the NPP leader values power more than the lives of Ghanaians. “Nana Addo wants to be president before he dies so even if people will die for him to be president, he does not care” he said. He reminded the NPP that election is not a do-or-die affair and that violence is not an acceptable response to defeat. He said that unlike Akufo-Addo, President John Mahama is not desperate for power because even if he does not win the election, he will continue to enjoy all the privileges that a former president is entitled to. Adu-Asare assured listeners that there will be no room for violence in the elections because government has established a solid security apparatus to forestall and combat any form of violence. He said that said free and fair elections cannot be ensured by the Electoral Commission (EC) alone. The goodwill and participation of all stakeholders, including political parties, the media and security forces are crucial to a peaceful election. He also called on the media to be circumspect in their reportage and to ignore sensationalism, uncivil utterances and personality attacks by politicians. He urged political parties to accept the election’s results regardless of the winner so that they might unite the people as a nation.