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The Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) has charged political parties to formulate realistic and development-oriented manifestoes that would address development challenges and better the lot of Ghanaians. Executive Director of IDEG, Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey, said this during a national interest dialogue on Multi- Party Governance and Constitutional Reforms held in Takoradi in the Western Region. The event was organised by IDEG, in collaboration with Civic Forum Initiative, National Peace Council, STAR-Ghana and other partners. It brought together heads of departments, traditional rulers, assembly members, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, youth groups and the media. Dr. Akwetey said political parties had become more of election machines without paying much attention to policies and programmes that would effectively address development challenges of the country. �Over the years political parties have made unrealistic and adhoc manifestoes without any welldefined roadmap for their implementation with a view of luring the electorate to vote for them during national elections�, he asserted. He mentioned the mandatory formulation and publication of political parties� manifestoes that would be translated into medium term development policies and programmes as basis for campaigning and educating the public. He called for the establishment of a multi-party commission to regulate political parties� activities and monitor how they would implement those programmes and policies. Dr. Akwetey believed this would compel the parties to become more policy and development-oriented agents. He proposed the strengthening of state institutions such as the Police Service, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), and Electoral Commission (EC), to make them more professional and impartial to fight corruption and protect them from party control. He called for the election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives by the electorate to make them more transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the people. Mr. Kwesi Jonah, a Senior Research Fellow of IDEG, said the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) was formed in 2010 to solicit inputs from the public towards the review of the 1992 Constitution in order to address certain gaps and weaknesses inherent in it. He, therefore, asked the CRIC to publish both the entrenched and nonentrenched provisions identified for amendment so that the people would make the right choice during the national referendum.