Dr John Osae Kwapong, a CDD fellow, has disclosed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer hopeful, John Dramani Mahama is the presumptive, flagbearer of the party.
According to him, per the rousing number of party faithfuls who have expressed their allegiance and support to his presidential bid, the outcome of the NDC’s internal election is evident. He revealed that Mr Mahama has over the period proven his worth to the party.
“I think certain candidates would come to the flagbearer race in the minds of the delegates as having greater strength than others, or more advantage than others. On the NDC side, for me it’s very obvious. I actually don’t see anybody being able to topple the former President. From all the signs, I think he is the presumptive flagbearer for the party, I don’t see anybody being able to topple him because of his standing in the party, having led the party twice before…”
Dr John Osae Kwapong
Elaborating on whether it is prudent for flagbearer hopefuls across the political terrain to reveal to delegates their pick for a Vice President prior to the primaries, Dr Kwapong indicated that such a move will likely change the dynamics of delegates voting pattern. He equally indicated that flagbearer hopefuls may also not want to disclose their choice until they first win the nominations.
Nonetheless, he explained that the move will be very helpful, especially considering the critical role of the Vice President as the head of the Economic Management Team.
“If you’re going to make the economy a centerpiece of your campaign, then it will be good for your delegates to know if you paired with person A as opposed to person B, whether that increases chances, [and] how then will the voters perceive us, in terms of our ability to manage the economy?…”
Dr John Osae Kwapong
Currently, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is yet to set a date to elect its flagbearer. That notwithstanding, personalities such as the former trades minister, Alan Kyerematen and former Agric minister, Afriyie Akoto have resigned and launched their campaigns with the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia yet to do so.
Chances of Dr Bawumia winning flagbearership
Commenting on whether the seeming delay by the Vice President will affect his chances of winning the flagbearership, the CDD fellow stated that when it comes to the Vice President, Dr Bawumia, in terms of the timeline, although the others have been able to resign their positions and officially launched their campaigns, however, he is not in a position to be able to do that.
Despite his inability to do that, Dr Kwapong explained that Dr Bawumia’s position as Vice President comes with a little bit of an advantage.
“… For now, until the NPP comes out with an official calendar, he would have to rely on those who are interested in his candidacy to keep pushing it for him. But I don’t think it places him in any disadvantage because of his official role as Vice President. He still gets to do things and be involved in everyday governance, so he still gets the visibility that he needs to be part of this flagbearer race.”
Dr John Osae Kwapong
Although Dr Kwapong asserted that Dr Bawumia’s involvement in governance gives him the visibility coupled with having able people to campaign on his behalf, his past statements on economic matters could pose a threat. He emphasized that it could be his biggest headaches during the general elections and not that of the party’s internal election.
“… Within the party, I think between 2016 and now, he’s really built strong inroads into the party and so I think that will really pay off potentially in being able to secure the flagbeareship race. I think what will be the challenge is the general elections where he now has to compete against the NDC candidate and that is where a lot of the economic arguments that he made in 2016 and the way the economy has turned out – some of the challenges the economy has faced, I think will be brought to the forefront again and I’m sure he’d have to find a way to deal with those challenges, explain why some of the arguments that were made didn’t turn out the way we expected it to turn out…”
Dr John Osae Kwapong
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