A member of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Kwesi Forkuor-Benyin, says the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on internal political party elections attempts to redefine democracy in Ghana, but argues that the approach misunderstands the concept of democratic representation.

Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (30 July), Forkuor-Benyin said democracy should not be equated solely with direct participation by every member of a political party.

“To sum up, this judgment attempts to define or redefine democracy in Ghana. However, I do not share that opinion at all,” he said.

According to him, democracy has evolved beyond the direct participation model practised in ancient Greece and Rome, with representative democracy becoming the accepted system in modern constitutional states.

“As politics grew, it became imperative that people elected representatives to exercise the mandate on behalf of the larger population,” he explained.

Forkuor-Benyin argued that delegated authority remains a legitimate democratic practice and should not be viewed as inferior simply because not every member votes directly in every election.

“Democracy can also be indirect or delegated, and it is perfectly so,” he said.

He maintained that enlarging the electoral base within political parties does not automatically make the process more democratic.

The lawyer further cautioned against drawing conclusions about the legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s ruling before the full judgment is published.

“As we speak, the actual judgment itself has not yet been published,” he noted, adding that lawyers and political actors should wait to study the court’s detailed reasoning before reaching definitive conclusions.

Forkuor-Benyin stressed that democracy, whether practised within political parties, workplaces, religious organisations or national institutions, should be judged by the same fundamental principles rather than by the size of the electorate alone.