Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul is dreading the mockery from the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) should the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu be defeated in Saturday’s\u00a0parliamentary primaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod forbid, but imagine what will happen if the leader doesn\u2019t come back as the candidate elect. Can you imagine the ridicule our party will go through? Can you imagine what we would have to go through? Is it now that we are going to look for a new leader to choose?\u201d Nitiwul lamented.<\/p>\n
Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has appealed to the NPP to retain him<\/a><\/strong><\/span> as the parliamentary candidate for the Suame Constituency.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”vHX5LqGb9g4UITEzNHefHOV3f5RqRbe0″]But his appeal was met with mixed reaction from party members.<\/p>\n However, speaking on Eyewitness News<\/strong> on Thursday, Dominic Nitiwul said there was a need for both the NPP and NDC to protect their leaders in Parliament.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important that we protect the position of the leaders of the various caucuses in Parliament, whether Minority or Majority, particularly a party that wants to win an election.\u201d<\/p>\n He said\u201d \u201cI\u2019m sure and I\u2019m convinced that anybody who will rise to that position, we should find a way of protecting them otherwise we will set ourselves for ridicule by our opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n Dominic Nitiwul observed that when Abraham Aidoo, former Majority Leader of Parliament for the NPP, was defeated, \u201cthe NDC ridiculed us to the extent that we ourselves had no defense.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the party should take a cue from that and forge ahead adding that \u201cI think we as a party we should be learning from history.\u201d<\/p>\n The Deputy Minority Leader said though it was justifiable for party members to contest, he explained that, leaders should be exempted since it\u00a0\u201cgives the party a bad picture and It\u2019s not good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n He lamented that the Minority Leader \u201cis the leader of 123 leaders of Parliament. That person is expected to work for the next one and a half years leading us, and the constituency decides that we are throwing him out, it doesn\u2019t speak well at all for the party, it\u2019s going to hurt the fortunes of the party.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the former Majority Leader, Abraham Aiddo had reiterated a similar sentiment<\/a><\/strong><\/span> saying\u00a0\u201cthe seat of the leader of the House is a high position, you don\u2019t just get there, you have to earn it. And for one to be there means he\u2019s gone through a lot of milling, training and grilling.\u201d<\/p>\n Abraham Osei said \u201cif for any reason the party thinks that person must not be there, there must be a way of getting him out quietly but if there is no reason and the person wants to be back in Parliament and has the proven capacity, he needs to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n Several persons including the Kwadaso MP,\u00a0Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and an NDC MP, Alfred Agbesi<\/a><\/strong><\/span> have supported calls for Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu to be retained.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n