The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has called on Parliament to expedite action on the passage of the Presidential Transition Bill in order to ensure that the next transition process is devoid of the acrimony that characterised previous transitions in 2001 and 2009. According to the public policy think-tank, it was important to put in place the necessary regulatory and institutional frameworks such as the establishment of a Presidential Estate Unit (PEU), early enough to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the next transition process. The PEU, to be headed by an Administrator-General, as contained in the bill, is envisaged to oversee the whole transition process, including spelling out modalities for the preparation and presentation of handing-over notes, taking inventory of Executive estate and setting guidelines for the vacation of government bungalows by outgoing members of the Executive. The Executive Director of the IEA, Mrs Jean Mensa, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said putting in place the requisite measures to make the transition process more effective required ample time and planning. She said it was, therefore, important to speed up the passage of the bill to ensure, for instance, the early appointment of the Administrator-General for the PEU to enable him or her to take inventory of government properties and also keep abreast of best practices in the world. Mrs Mensa said the bill would help remove the political polarisation of the transition process such as the situation where outgoing ministers of state would be accused of looting government property and chased around to redeem same. She said the bill gave institutional clarity regarding who should handle what, adding that given the security of tenure of the Administrator-General, he or she could not be removed from office by any government, thereby enabling him or her to discharge his or her responsibilities in the best interest of the nation. The Presidential Transition Bill was initiated in 2007 by the IEA under its Ghana Political Party Programme, an inter-party consultative group involving the four political parties with representation in Parliament, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the People's National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People's Party CPP), with the view to de-polarising the transition process. In 2001, the transition process was characterised by rancour and acrimony between the outgoing NDC administration and the incoming NPP administration, while in 2009, the polarisation further deepened during a reverse transition, with the NPP pulling out of the process, having accused the NDC of resorting to practices inconsistent with proper and efficient transitional norms. The IEA-initiated bill has been highly endorsed across the political spectrum, with President Mills pledging the government's support to it in his 2009 State of the Nation Address, while the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, in an article in the Friday, January 23,2009 issue of the Daily Graphic, underscored the need for such a bill to ensure smooth transition in the future. However, barely 22 months away from Election 2012, the bill is before the Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, after which it will be tabled on the floor of the House for passage. Given the contracting space of time to the next elections, the IEA fears that unless Parliament expedites action on the passage of the bill, the nation may be confronted with yet another bitter transition process in 2013. The IEA had also proposed a change in the voting date from December 7 to November 7 to allow for a longer transition period, even in the event of a run-off, as happened in the 2000 and 2008 elections. Mrs Mensa said that would require a constitutional amendment, adding that the IEA had submitted a proposal to that effect to the Constitution Review Commission. A policy analyst at the IEA, Dr Michael Ofori-Mensah, said there was the need to promptly address other pertinent issues such as public officers whose tenure of office was tied to the tenure of the President. The schedule of the Presidential Transition Bill lists such public officers as ministers and deputy ministers of state, regional and deputy regional ministers, special assistants/aides to the President, the Vice-President, non-career Ambassadors and High Commissioners, persons appointed by the President or ministers of state as members of statutory boards and corporations and the National Security Co-ordinator. Dr Ofori-Mensah said bringing clarity to that issue would end the controversy over the removal of such public officers when a new government assumed office and the accusations of political witch-hunt that characterised previous transitions. Source: Daily Graphic