A Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Seidu Alidu, has revealed that the appeal of a flag bearer for the New Patriotic Party is crucial to its victory.

According to him, selling the next flag bearer to the Ghanaian populace would be a very difficult task due to the current economic situation the country finds itself under the party.

“We’re looking at the appeal of the candidate they’re going to elect. Credibility is very important, class worthiness, and the whole concept of confidence. Will the national population be able to impose confidence in either Alan or Bawumia given the track record?”
Dr. Seidu Alidu

Dr Alidu questioned the party’s performance given what they have said in the past and what they’re doing currently. He quizzed whether the way the current government has managed the economy, “are people able to make a decent living?”

“Are people going to look at their conditions of welfare and wellbeing and how will that portend to the victory of the NPP?”
Dr. Seidu Alidu

Commenting on the ability of the New Patriotic Party’s resolve of ‘Breaking the Eight’, Dr Alidu highlighted that it will be an uphill task even with the new crop of executives they currently have. He stated that despite the balance this new crop of executives presents to the party, they have a lot of work to do preparing the party and convincing Ghanaians that the NPP is still a better choice in the upcoming 2024 elections.

He noted that the new executives indeed do bring with them a generational and even regional balance, but this balance might not be sufficient to breaking the eight.

“I tend to see a little bit of good thing in them. One, the kind of very delicate balance that we have in terms of generation; we have a kind of generational balance. You see relatively older and younger faces in that particular crop of executives.”
Dr. Seidu Alidu

The political science lecturer opined that there is an element of balance of experience, within the elected executive following the retaining of about three of the current executives. Additionally, he revealed that there are people who are equally getting into those positions for the first time or maybe moving position.

“… So, you kind of see that new experience coming on board to join the very old experience. So that’s also very balanced.”
Dr. Seidu Alidu

Unity among NPP party members

Dr Alidu expressed that even though the National Delegate’s Congress had not gone without some hitches, it was rather “too early to judge” the general mood of the party. That notwithstanding, he indicated that there is some kind of unity being “mooted” after the congress.

“Except the fact that Asabee makes some accusations about the voter buying, but also the fact that Chairman Wontumi rallied about 15 regional chairmen to declare for a candidate that has completely lost. I also read about Titus Glover also saying that he’s going to work for the party [but not for Asabee] … These are emerging cracks, but I still think the party can put that together.”
Dr. Seidu Alidu

Nonetheless, Dr. Alidu noted that the new executives would have to brace themselves for a threefold challenge should they consider breaking the eight.