Need for a truce in NPP
It must be stated in clear and certain terms that the NPP conducted its internal elections to elect a flag bearer for the party in a beautiful way.
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Even though there were some disagreements, and if you like, electoral violations here and there, they were largely petty and nothing that really affected the outcome.
The occasion was reminiscent of a national election, considering the huge coverage the media gave it.
It was a very good rehearsal for the party in preparation for Election 2016. It is expected that other parties would as well go through similar processes to elect their flag bearers.
One thing though that stood out like a sore thumb for me, and I believe for others also, was the number of spoilt ballots, which was more than the figure the candidate who came out third received.
In fact, the issue of spoilt ballots was a contentious issue in the 2012 elections. Some observers believe that if the electorate had managed well and not spoilt so many ballots there would not have been the need to go to the Supreme Court.
This is because if the numbers had weighed in one direction, there would have been a clear cut winner in the end. What this means is that the Electoral Commission and the National Commission on Civic Education have a job on their hands to educate the public on the proper way of casting a ballot.
That exercise should start now even before the political parties get themselves into the starting block to begin campaigns.
The political parties too must learn from what has transpired in the NPP with regard to spoilt ballots and begin educating their supporters on the right way to cast a ballot. If they do this, it will go a long way to improve their fortunes in the next elections. Who knows; but for spoilt ballots some parties would have received a more respectable count than what they got in 2012.
Now that the NPP has crossed the Rubicon, it is the expectation of the party’s supporters that it would stay united. I understand that the party has issued a fiat calling for the disbandment of all factions within the party and a ceasefire announced.
If the party is to make progress in the days ahead, it would be very important that the party rank and file and the executive members themselves abide by this directive.
So much damage has been done to the party’s ego over the past couple of months and it would be suicidal if the stable gates are not closed. It is fine that the party boasts about itself as being democratic, but being democratic does not mean that people could spew out hostile comments about their opponents in order to denigrate them and thwart their chances at the polls.
What was disturbing was that many of the charges against opponents were unsubstantiated. Politics is about numbers, as the cliché goes, and that is why parties should in every way possible always endeavour to talk good about themselves no matter how heated competition is within its rank.
Very soon, a decision would have to be taken on a candidate to partner Nana Akufo-Addo as running mate. Hopefully, that would not also become a situation that would bring about an internecine feud among interested parties.
The NDC is also gearing itself to elect a national chairman for the party. Already, ‘missiles’ are being thrown at opposing camps by supporters of the contestants and the contestants themselves, albeit not as injurious as was witnessed in the NPP. There is a court case the party would have to clear in order to have the way cleared.
Besides the position of national chairman for the party, another position that is being hotly contested is that of national organiser. That one promises to be a cliffhanger.
There was initial give and take between the two leading contestants, that is Messrs Yaw Boateng Gyan and Kofi Adams. Lately too, a 44-year-old businessman, Mr Ishaq Abdullah Farrakhan, has declared his intention to challenge Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the forthcoming national executive elections of the party.
He said Mr Asiedu Nketiah should not delude himself into thinking that he was the only person who could be the general secretary of the party. The NDC, he said, was full of equally hard-working, intelligent and versatile individuals who could even steer the affairs of the party better than Mr Asiedu-Nketiah. Ah, well! We live to see.