President Nana Akufo-Addo
PRESIDENT Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged delegates and parliamentary aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to use today’s internal elections to demonstrate to everyone that the ruling party has the strongest attachment to the principles of democratic accountability.
He has accordingly urged all those involved in the process to help ensure that the elections are held in a free, fair and peaceful manner, stressing “we dare not fail the Ghanaian people.”
The primaries are to be held in the 168 constituencies to prepare them fully for the December 7 general election, and already the rest of the areas where the party does not have control over in Parliament had been concluded since last year. The party was compelled to cancel the internal elections, which were supposed to be held on April 25, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nana/Bawumia Ticket
The party will use the same platform to officially endorse the candidature of President Akufo-Addo and his vice, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as the party’s flag bearer and running mate respectively.
They were selected to lead the party unopposed last December by the Council of Elders and the National Executive Committee.
The President, in a statement, wished all the contestants well and asked them to commit to peace in the supreme interest of the NPP.
“Our party, the governing NPP, goes to the polls on June 20 (today) to select the final compliment of parliamentary candidates for the December 2020 elections. I wish all our aspirants the very best of luck and urge all who are involved in the process to help ensure that the elections are held in a free, fair and peaceful manner,” the President said in a statement.
“In particular, let us respect the enhanced hygiene and social distancing protocols the Electoral Commission (EC) has put in place to guarantee our safety and to prove to all that, in spite of Covid-19, our nation can conduct an electoral process, where the sanctity of the ballot is preserved,” he added.
Winners & Losers
“There will be no individual winners, neither will there be losers. It is the NPP that must emerge stronger, united and victorious. We have a collective responsibility to demonstrate to the country, once again, our credentials of being the party with the strongest attachment to the principles of democratic accountability. We dare not fail the Ghanaian people,” he emphasized.
“So let us join hands after the primaries to advance the principles and ideals of our party, the realization of which are essential to the freedom, progress and prosperity of the Ghanaian people.
“We must remember at all times that we are the only party capable of supervising the transformation of our economy and nation that all Ghanaians want,” he pointed out.
“Once again, I wish the party and all parliamentary aspirants the very best of luck and God’s blessings,” he indicated and asked God to “bless our homeland Ghana and make it great and strong.”
NEC Statement
Meanwhile, the leadership of the party has also asked delegates and aspirants to reinvent democratic values, which include the freedom to choose leaders and speak their minds.
The General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, in a statement, said, “The timing is very crucial in sending the right signals that the country can equally undertake the other democratic exercises ahead of us, including the continuation of the Ghana card registration, the EC’s upcoming new voters’ registration and the conduct of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.”
According to the statement, “the NPP primary election is the first democratic exercise involving mass participation that the country is going to experience since Ghana recorded its first two Covid-19 cases and the accompanying restrictions.”
“As the NPP goes to the polls today to elect its parliamentary candidates in the 168 constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament, the party wishes to first of all commend all individuals who have played diverse roles towards ensuring that the processes leading to the primaries have thus far been smooth,” the statement indicated.
He stated that the party is particularly grateful to the aspirants, who graciously decided to withdraw their nomination from the contest to support others in support of “the interventions made by some party elders and the National Executive Committee (NEC) in the supreme interest of the party.”
National Chairman
Already, the NPP National Chairman, Freddie W. Blay, has appealed to all party members “to show their loyalty and stand solidly behind the party” for the all-important exercise.
He said the party’s primaries were “internal affairs and so there is no need for true supporters of the party to be at each other’s throat since NPP is one family dedicated to improving the lives of Ghanaians.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Ernest Kofi Adu