Nearly, a week after the New Patriotic Party elected Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as its flagbearer for the 2024 general election, the scramble for who partners the Vice President and the party’s flagbearer have intensified.
For the New Patriotic Party, the choice of who partners the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the 2024 general elections is critical because, for the first time in the history of the party, its presidential candidate is from a minority group.
Again, the choice of the running mate is critical to the New Patriotic Party due to its agenda of breaking the eight.
For the past few days, the party has been divided among two groups, with the first group admonishing the party and its flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to consider regional representation in the selection of its running mate and the second group on the other hand advising the party to choose a candidate that can help the party to garner more votes in the 2024 general elections.
For instance, Professor Ameyaw Akumfi, the former Minister of Education under President John Agyekum Kufour and current board Chairman of the Public Procurement Authority has urged the New Patriotic Party and the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to consider a candidate that has the capacity and the competence to add more value to the party’s chances of winning the 2024 general elections.
According to him, the New Patriotic Party’s greatest concern in the choice of the running mate for its Flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia should be how that choice would help the party to secure more votes in the 2024 general elections.
So far, the names that have surfaced in the public domain include Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister for Energy, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, first Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful.
Others also have tipped the former Chairman of the Church of Pentecost Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah to partner the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2024 general elections.
Ashanti Region Tops The Chart For NPP Running Mate Bid
It is interesting to note that among the list of names that have surfaced, the Ashanti Region has the majority of the people lobbying for the running mate of the New Patriotic Party.
The list includes the Member of Parliament for Suame, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Joseph Osei Owusu, Manhyia South legislator, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum, lawmaker for Bosomtwe.
The Chairman for the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah is equally from the Ashanti Region. It is clearly an Ashanti-dominated race.
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region Kingsley Nyarko who is the lead advocate for the New Patriotic Party to consider the Ashanti Region in the selection of its running mate has reiterated his justifications for the party to choose a running mate from the Ashanti Region.
According to the lawmaker, the Ashanti Region would play a significant role in the New Patriotic Party’s chances of winning the 2024 general elections hence it is justifiable for the party to choose its running mate from the region.
“There are a lot of competent personalities from the region so I don’t think that it is out of place to get someone from there. He [Dr Bawumia] can decide to choose the running mate from any other region but I think that a running mate from the Ashanti region will be a step in the right direction”.
Kingsley Nyarko, MP Kwadaso Constituency
The selection of a running mate in politics, including considerations related to ethnicity, can have several implications and importance, although the significance varies across different contexts.
Choosing a running mate from a particular ethnicity may resonate with voters from that ethnic group. It can help a political party appeal to a broader range of voters, strengthen its support base, and increase the party’s chances of winning elections as well.
For the New Patriotic Party, it is undoubted that the Ashanti Region plays a very significant role in its electoral fortunes hence it is not out of place for the party to give the region high consideration.
However, overemphasizing ethnicity and regional representation in politics can contribute to divisive identity politics which could lead to a situation where another minority group would feel excluded.
The New Patriotic Party must therefore balance regional representation with qualifications and abilities in the choice and selection of its running mate.
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