Ali Suraj
ALI SURAJ’s hopes of being elected as the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Asutifi South Constituency in the Ahafo Region for the 2020 polls have been raised.
According to a former NPP parliamentary candidate for the constituency, Yiadom Boakye-Boateng, Suraj is the suitable candidate to snatch the seat from the incumbent opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) and former Minister of Water Resources, Works & Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda.
He added that Suraj has all that it takes to end the dominance of sitting NDC MP.
Mr. Boakye-Boateng said in a statement to DAILY GUIDE that he is backing Suraj, who he described as “loyal, capable and hardworking” to defeat the incumbent MP.
He disclosed that the NPP has not been able to win the seat because the area is dominated by settlers from the northern part of Ghana, and because Suraj is one of them like the NDC MP, he can match the opposition for votes in 2020.
Mr. Boakye-Boateng added that the NDC has been using the ‘settlers issue’ to canvass for votes and called on the NPP to adopt a new approach in the way they select parliamentary candidates in the constituency.
Sounding very confident, he said, “If the NPP elects Suraj, who also has a northern extraction as their candidate for the 2020 election, definitely he (Suraj) would rely on his huge popularity to defeat Collins Dauda for the NPP.”
Advantage
Mr. Boakye-Boateng mentioned that Suraj stands tall among the NPP parliamentary candidates at Asutifi South because he can deliver the votes for the party.
“For the NPP in the Asutifi South, the party has overtime stumbled in fielding a candidate who reflects in the dynamics that can deliver the seat for the party,” he stated, adding, “It was Thomas Broni in 2004 and I, Yiadom Boakye-Boateng, who contested on the ticket of the NPP in 2008 and 2012 and Madam Cecilia Ashan Amoah came in 2016.”
“Given that the Asutifi South Constituency is predominantly populated by people coming from the northern part of the country, Akan candidates of the NPP have always been a walkover for Collins Dauda, who is a northern extract,” he indicated.
He added, “Suraj is youthful with the verve and commitment and dominantly he is a northern extract, which suffices well enough for him to end the parliamentary seat drought of the NPP in the Asutifi South Constituency.”
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi