A Political Science Lecturer, Dr. Evans Aggrey, is advising the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to go ahead with its October Congress.
This, he said will make the marketing of the winner to Ghanaians “a little bit easier” because “…the person who actually wins the flagberarship slot has the wide legitimacy and has a lot of support within the party.”
Some party members and political commentators are urging the leadership of the NPP to allow the winner of Sunday’s Super Delegates Congress, Nana Akufo-Addo to represent the party in the 2016 general elections without any contest.
Nana Addo won the elections by an overwhelming majority by polling 598 votes representing 81.28% of the total valid votes cast.
The super delegates’ congress reduce the number of presidential aspirants from seven to five as stated in the party’s constitution.
But the results from Sunday’s election are fueling calls for the October congress to be called off.
However, in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Aggrey advised that every delegate must be allowed to partake in the process of choosing a flagbearer,
According to him, Sunday’s result is indicative that “Nana Addo remains a top dog within the group and the rest are underdogs.”
“But the rest being there are also critical because a party must also have succession plan; being that there are equally credible candidates who on a very good day can also step in the shoes of those who are virtually fading out,” he explained.
Dr. Aggrey added that it is critical “that other actors also decide that they are also competent enough to also occupy the flagbearership position and then ultimately contest general elections.”
He remarked that the trend over the world and throughout history is “the right to vote and be voted for” therefore the leadership of the NPP must stick to the original plan.
“Within the parties, the trend has been that you would want as many people as possible to have a say in who becomes the flagbearer and that is why some political analysts have hailed the NPP’s decision to expand the base so that more and more people will take part in the process,” he added.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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