Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ohene Ntow, has disclosed that the possibility of pairing former trades minister, Alan Kyerematen and Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, for the party’s presidential candidate elections will not be a realistic proposal.
According to him, it will not be a prudent idea because the constitution of the party does not make provisions for that. He indicated that the constitution makes allowances for the elected presidential candidate at the party level to make his own choice of a running mate.
Mr Ntow emphasized that the selection of a running mate is not the preserve of the party members but rather the presidential candidate as they must work collaboratively.
“They’ve asked me several times and I’ve said that is not a realistic proposal. That is not a proposal to be considered. Now, if you look at the party’s constitution, the candidate after being elected, has the constitutional right and privilege to nominate his running mate and the council endorses it.”
Nana Ohene Ntow
Citing the case of President Akufo-Addo, he explained that the President needed to come up with a running mate following his win at the primaries level in 2008. He noted that the President proposed a name to which most of the council members did not support.
Within the period, Mr Ntow stated that some members of the party’s Council also proposed a name to which Nana Akufo-Addo rejected. This, he revealed, generated a lot of backroom discussion.
Nonetheless, he indicated that the entrance of Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, who was the pick of President Akufo-Addo and was not even a member of the party then, caused some pposition and reactions.
“Even when Dr Bawumia was not a member of the party after a long discussion, President Kufuor said look, the constitution says the candidate has the right, so let us consider it for now… So, in that respect, apart from the constitutional stuff, when you pre-arrange, you are forcing a running mate on whoever becomes the presidential candidate.”
Nana Ohene Ntow
The former NPP general secretary noted that once the choice of a running mate isn’t left to the discretion of the elected presidential candidate, it sets a dangerous precedent.
“… Once it becomes a precedent, why shouldn’t anybody in the future, if it suits them also refer to it. Let the constitution help you.”
Nana Ohene Ntow
Strategy of the NPP is to win election
Commenting on what will be the stance of Mr Kyerematen if he should lose his presidential bid, Mr Ntow stated that the decision must be left to the former trades minister to make. With this, he urged members of the party not to tie the relevance of the party to individuals.
“People seem to want a certain arrangement by all means [and] that feeling, I will reject outright. Why should people just limit it to Alan/Bawumia? Let this party be NPP… Those of us who are in the leadership now of NPP will die and go [and] another generation will take over from us. So, the things that we do today, I think we should be careful not to think we are going to be here forever. So, we are setting a precedent for the future generation whether they like it or not will have to refer to.”
Nana Ohene Ntow
Elaborating on whether the NPP places a high premium on the religious affiliations of a candidate or not, Mr Ntow emphasized that the party’s focus is to win elections and isn’t very bothered about it. He explained that the party must operate with the strategic objective to win an election and whether the votes come from a Christian bloc, Muslim or atheist bloc is irrelevant.
“When these issues come up, I respond to them as a former general secretary, basically focusing on strategic objectives and what will help us achieve that. In that respect, we are not looking at the religious factor. We are looking at where most of the votes come from and we are pushing our strategy towards that…”
Nana Ohene Ntow
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