On Friday, the Democratic Freedom Party was presented with its permanent certificate to operate as a fully fledged political party by the Electoral Commission.

Today, The Statesman hopes that other political parties, media houses and the electorate will join us in welcoming these newest players into Ghana's political arena - and in congratulating the DFP for the efficiency it has so far shown in the set-up of the party in the last year, and in meeting the requirements of the Electoral Commission in a timely fashion.

Our greatest hope is that the DFP would respond positively to The Statesman"s editorial plea of Friday for a higher quality in Ghana’s political discourse.

The good people of Ghana also long for a politics that celebrates differences and disagreements without condemnation, and works toward equal opportunity, shared responsibility and a sense of community.

There is too much divisive, demonising, distracting politics in Ghana today. As one US statesman noted last week, they may be very good for an election, particularly when people feel unsettled and insecure, but they don’t do much to advance the common good.

At the beginning of 2006, there was much media hype about the formation of this new political party – a new 'serious’ force to challenge the grip of the governing New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Party, a well-run ‘third force’ with sensible members and policies. A party that can enhance political expectations by pushing debates to connect more strongly to the real lives of real people.

At the outset, the hopes were high – and despite persistent rumours that some of the original DFP members, detractors from the NDC, are ready to return to the main opposition group, the party insists it is going strong. DFP interim chairman, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Isakah, last week insisted that the party’s breadth and variety of members is its strength – and that the DFP will not fall into the same political traps or become embroiled in the same in-fighting that has for too long characterised politics in Ghana and elsewhere. The Statesman can only wish them luck – the potential pit-falls of cliquey-ness and ethnicity within parties have been witnessed time and again in Ghana and more extremely across Africa.

One of the reasons for petty squabbles in our politics is of course the static terrain over the last few years: precisely the thing a third ‘serious’ party ought to change. Because success for the DFP will not be an election victory in 2008 – even the leaders of the party would be unrealistic to think of that. Rather, success for the party initially will be if it manages to throw a sizable spanner in the works of the existing to-ing and fro-ing of the two main parties in Ghana – to shake up both the NPP and the NDC by coming up with questions and policies to spur them into more sophisticated, meaningful discourse.

Thus, success for the party will mean a strengthening of Ghanaian politics as a whole: something which politicians and voters from across the spectrum should welcome and support.

Alhaji Isakah highlighted the need for the DFP to rise above petty politics within the party. The hope of The Statesman is that the widening of the political field in Ghana, and the introduction of a new ‘team’ of skilled players, will work to unite not only the DFP itself, but also the Government – with a strong challenge faced up to by a united party in power.

And not only can increasing competition inspire greater strength and greater unity – but it also necessitates more direction and more decisive progress from those in charge, and can – should – lead to greater scrutiny of policy and thus more effective policy made. With yet another option for voters to choose – Government needs to ensure it works harder, better to ensure it remains popular.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Green Party never wins more than a handful of seats in the national Parliament, but its number is increasing gradually and – more importantly – its focus on the environment and pressure on Government to adopt greater recycling measures, cut carbon emissions and clean up urban areas are affecting national policy for everyone. The policies of a relatively small party have forced onto the political agenda for the whole country issues which, now, are serving to increase quality of living for people in the UK.

The fact that the DFP is formed largely from dissatisfied members of another political party is not a negative reflection on the state of democracy in Ghana. Rather, it is a ringing endorsement of the vibrant, dynamic level of politics in this country. Let’s hope the DFP also fits within this dynamism – injecting fresh energy into the Ghanaian political system and its existing parties.