Freddie Blay
The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, obviously excited about the turn of events during last Saturday’s internal elections of the party has doffed his hat in deference to contestants, delegates and above all the Electoral Commission (EC) for the success chalked up.
The gratitude which he offered, he said, was from him and on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
“On behalf of the NEC, I express my sincere appreciation for their efforts in seeing to the successful organization of the just-ended 2020 NPP parliamentary primaries conducted in most constituencies where we have NPP members of Parliament,” he stated.
Singling out the EC for what seems like a special recognition, he said, “I also thank the officers of the Electoral Commission for yet again rising up to the occasion of supervising the elections in a fair and transparent manner. We equally thank our friends from the media who have given comprehensive coverage and reportage and generated much interest in this year’s primaries, even in the face of COVID 19 pandemic. By all standards, the primaries have been a well conducted and keenly contested one.”
Key Contest
The contest, he disclosed, is a demonstration of the vibrancy and attractiveness of the NPP, adding, “As we conclude this phase of our internal parliamentary elections, I will urge all contestants who won to be magnanimous in their victory celebrations and those who lost to be gracious in accepting their loses and personal setbacks’ pointing out that ‘the NPP and our country Ghana remain the ultimate winners. Those who may still have disagreements and complaints with the process are encouraged to activate the party’s laid down procedures for redress and reconciliation.”
He spoke against what he said “is giving ammunition to our opponents for vicious and character assassinating attacks.”
Mr. Blay frowned upon the reported cases of altercations in a few polling stations, describing them as unacceptable, which the party strongly condemns.
Continuing, he added that the “party is already initiating moves to investigate them thoroughly and if necessary apply the appropriate sanctions.”
He kicked against what he said is “the unfortunate escalating occurrences of alleged influence peddling and inducements across board, acknowledging that these definitely constitute a threat to Ghana’s fledging and young democracy.”
Rather than divide the ranks of the party, he said the just-ended contests, which after all was a family affair, should energize the party membership for the pending compilation of a new voters’ register by the EC.
He patted the party on the back for setting new standards day in day out, pointing out the grouping’s ability to overcome the limitations of COVID-19 pandemic.
In recalling the President’s remarks recently, he said the NPP “cannot let the good people of Ghana down after voting overwhelmingly for the party in the 2016 general elections. The Ghanaian electorate have confidence in the visionary and exemplary leadership of the President and are largely convinced that the New Patriotic Party has what it takes to bring about prosperity and dignity to the good people of Ghana.”
The conduct and activities of party members, he added, should be geared towards sustaining that confidence.
“All in all, I sincerely thank you all,” he concluded.
By A.R. Gomda