Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has urged supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to exercise patience for the flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to choose his running mate for the upcoming general elections.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stressed the importance of giving Dr. Bawumia the independence to make his own decision on the choice of a running mate, believing it would contribute to the unity and success of the party.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister expressed confidence in Dr. Bawumia’s intelligence and anticipated that he would make a judicious choice in the best interest of the party.
He called on the public to afford the Vice President the necessary time and space to make a well-informed and strategic decision.
“This whole kind of intrigues and contrivance, it will suggest to some people that you are doing this to foist some people on him because he is a Northerner, tying his hands behind him.
“That is what makes me uncomfortable, Bawumia is discerning enough, he is analytical enough, he is intelligent enough to make his own decision,” he said.
“Let’s leave him. He has stayed long enough in the party to know the nooks and crannies of the party. Let’s leave him to make that decision,” he stressed.
Despite Dr. Bawumia not having made an official announcement regarding his running mate for the upcoming December polls, several analysts have speculated potential choices.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, after his election, requested an extension of time to consult on his selection of a running mate ahead of the 2024 election. This was announced by the General Secretary of the party, Justin Frimpong Kodua, at a press conference in Accra.
It follows a crucial meeting by the NPP’s National Executive Committee and National Council concerning the request. The meeting was called in alignment with the party’s constitutional requirement of selecting a running mate 12 months before a major election if the President is not the candidate.
The extension of time for Dr. Bawumia means the party has suspended the party’s constitutional provision to allow for further consultation.
The party’s General Secretary admitted, “Today should have been the day that our leader of the party and presidential candidate should have presented his running mate to the National Council.
“However, upon request from the presidential candidate that because his election was done on the 4th of November 23, he needs a bit of time to continue with his consultation before he brings the proposed name for running mate to the National Council. And this was unanimously agreed by the National Council,” he added.
The Vice President is expected to propose a running mate, whose suitability, in terms of general appeal to the electorates, must be accepted by the meeting.
According to the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, in an earlier interview on JoyNews, the party had generally agreed that the running mate for the newly elected party’s flagbearer would be chosen from the Ashanti Region.
This, the Bekwai Member of Parliament (MP) had said is the only solution to the party winning the 2024 general election.
Names like Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Energy Minister), Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (Education Minister), and Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (Majority Leader), who have been rumoured as frontrunners, will be juggling their chances against others like the Deputy Finance and MP for Ejisu, John Ampontuah Kumah, and Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, whose names have been making the rounds as well.
There has even been mention of Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare.
A Daily Guide Report