Why Dr. Bawumia's resounding victory in Special Conference is a reflection of the will of the party's grassroots
For the second time in the history of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), specially selected delegates of the party went to the polls last Saturday in a special conference, for a special exercise.
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Ten members of the ruling party successfully filed to be elected as the party's flagbearer for next year's presidential election, and as we may all be aware, Saturday's exercise was a simple mission of whittling down the number of contestants from 10 to five, in accordance with NPP's Constitution.
The Special Delegates Conference also gave us an indication of who-is-who in the contest; the pretenders, the empty noise makers, the saboteurs, the realists and the true man of the people!
On Saturday, 961 delegates, representing special blocks of the party, including the grassroots, had the privilege to take part in the special exercise.
At the end of the highly expectant exercise, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia emerged the clear winner after polling 629 of the total 961 votes, over two-thirds of the valid votes cast, leaving the remaining nine aspirants to share the remaining votes.
His win was as commanding as it was emphatic, having won in all the 16 regions and the National Party Headquarters. Effectively, Dr. Bawumia blew his other contenders away, and made a giant step towards the flagbearership ahead of the final step in November.
But the specially selected delegates is a representation of key stakeholders of the party, namely constituency, regional, MPs, diaspora and national levels of the party.
Majority of delegates represented the grassroots.
Yes, 961 people voted in the special delegates, but the majority of the delegates who took part in the special delegates elections were directly representing the grassroots constituents.
In the composition of the delegates, there were: 275 Constituency Chairmen, 137 MPs, 272 Regional Executives and 17 National Executives. All of them, totalling 701 were voted for by the grassroots, and as delegates, they represented the grassroots, who put them there.
These three categories of voters represented the biggest constituents in Saturday's voting, and their overwhelming majority of 701, out of the total delegates of 961, cleared shows the grassroots of the party was in total control.
And the outcome of the votes of these categories of voters; Constituency Chairmen, MPs and Regional Executives, clearly reflect the will of their respective constituents and the grassroots.
The grassroots made up of polling station executives and electoral area coordinators, always makes their choices clear to the Constituency executives, MPs and the regional Chairmen (executives), in turn, follow the direction of their Constituency executives. Also, the MPs, who directly represent the will of their constituents, vote as their constituents wish.
Anyone who has followed the history of delegates election in the NPP, will not fail to honestly admit that the majority of the MPs, and the other two categories of voters named above conduct broad consultations among their constituents before they openly declare their support and vote for a candidate who truly represents the will of the grassroots. Often, MPs, Constituency and Regional Executives who fail to implement the will of their respective grassroots, are punished by being removed at the next executive elections or primaries for MPs.
Throughout the campaign leading to the special delegates conference, many constituencies openly called on their leaders to vote for Vice President Bawumia, and the leaders - Constituency Chairmen, Regional Executives and MPs, echoed these sentiments that they would vote massively for Dr. Bawumia.
Indeed, they fulfilled this pledge, as the resounding victory of Dr. Bawumia in the Special Delegates Conference, clearly indicates.
History shows outcome of super delegates reflects the will of the grassroots
A number of the candidates contesting, even before the special delegates election, attempted to rubbish the outcome of the super delegates election. Their argument was that the super delegates election would not reflect the will of the people in the main contest in November.
Clearly, this was a defeatist strategy by the aspirants. They faced impending defeat and they were aware of the big victory awaiting Dr. Bawumia on Saturday. So to keep their relevance and fading flagbearership dream alive beyond the Super Delegates Conference, they were only trying to downplay the effects of the outcome of the super delegates.
But they are wrong. There is a direct relationship between the results of the Super Delegates and what will happen in the main election in November. History, in the NPP, clearly supports this.
In 2014, when the NPP held its first ever Super Delegates Conference, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo swept the votes in the Super Delegates Conference and he even performed much better in the main conference.
Out of 740 people who voted, Nana Akufo-Addo got 598 votes representing 80.78%. His main contenders Alan Kyerematen got 59 votes, representing 7.98%, Addai Nimoh and Joe Ghartey got 22 votes each representing 2.98 and Osei Ameyaw managed 16 votes, which was 2.17% to make the top 5.
Just as what happened prior to the special delegates election, with party executives and MPs saying they would vote for Dr. Bawumia to reflect the will of the grassroots, who had asked them to vote for him. Same happened in 2014, with many chairmen and MPs announcing they would vote for Nana Akufo-Addo to reflect the direction of their constituents.
Again, just as we are hearing now, those who lost miserably in 2014 outrightly downplayed the effects of the special delegates election on the main election. But they were wrong! The overwhelming victory for Nana Akufo-Addo in the Special Delegates election was emphatically endorsed by the grassroot in the main conference throughout the regions.
Indeed two contenders who made it to the top five; Joe Ghartey and Osei Ameyaw, who understood the dynamics and the message of the grassroots, stepped out of the main race, leaving Nana Akufo-Addo, Alan Kyerematen and Addai Nimoh to go for the main election.
At the end of the main election, Nana Akufo-Addo, just as he did in the Super Delegates Conference, win the main election emphatically by 94.35%, which was even better than the 80.78% he got in the super delegates election. His closest contender Alan Kyerematen, got another paltry 4.75%, which was worse than the 7.98% he got in the Super delegates. Addai Nimoh got 0.9%.
Clearly, what happens in the Super Delegates Conference is a reflection of the call of the grassroots, and it is a clear indication of what will happen in the main election.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia won the Super Delegates emphatically, and it is an indication of his popularity, a reflection of the support he enjoys from all levels of the party, as well as the groundswell of support he enjoys from the grassroots, which will be overwhelmingly confirmed in the second phase of the election in November, to endorse Dr. Bawumia as the new NPP flagbearer.
With Dr. Bawumia in commanding lead, the big losers, are trying so desperately to downplay the effects of Dr. Bawumia’s resounding victory in the Special Delegates Conference on Saturday.
It is just a face-saving tactic to keep their fading flagbearership ambition alive until the second phase of the elections in November.
Anyone who says the outcome of an election, which had 701 grassroot-constituted delegates, out of 961 total delegates, does not represent the will of the grassroot, clearly is a political neophyte, or is being dishonest!