Delegates of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) go to the polls on Saturday to elect a flag bearer in a defining moment for the party towards the 2024 general election.
The second stage of the
flagbearer election process, this time involving just four out of the initial
10, will set the stage for a campaign that seeks to perpetuate the NPP in power
beyond the eight-year cycle witnessed in the Fourth Republic.
It is the moment of truth for the Member
of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong; Vice-President Dr
Mahamudu Bawumia; a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie
Akoto, and a former MP for Mampong in the Ashanti Region, Francis Addai-Nimoh,
who survived the Super Delegates Conference on August 26 this year.
It will be the first flagbearership contest within the NPP since
2007 without the presence of Alan Kyerematen, a founder member of the party who
has since quit the NPP and is now pursuing a presidential dream as an
Independent candidate.
Mr Kyerematen complained about intimidation and assault on his
polling agents and other supporters, claiming also that the contest was not
held on a fair and level ground.
Based on that, he pulled out of the
November 4 contest and also resigned from the NPP to contest as an independent
aspirant in the December 2024 general election.
The party also called off a run-off intended to break the tie
between Mr Addai-Nimoh and Boakye Agyarko for the fifth position on September 2
after Mr Agyarko pulled out of that contest, citing concerns that bordered on
legalities.
Consequently, the contestants for Saturday's election were left
with four aspirants instead of five.
In the August 26 poll, Dr Bawumia
proved a dominant force as he obtained 68 per cent of the votes of over 900
delegates, which marked him out as the man to beat.
Delegates
However, in Saturday's contest, over
200,000 delegates are expected to cast their votes to elect the flag bearer of
the party.
This time, the delegates are made up
of the grass roots of the party, which include polling station executives,
electoral area coordinators and constituency executives.
With the expanded voter population for
the final round of the race, the contest promises to be an interesting one,
with the promise of a surprise if polls being run by various quarters are
anything to go by.
Indeed, some political watchers and
analysts have said that the race is between Dr Bawumia and Mr Agyapong.
Some delegates, in separate interactions with the Daily Graphic,
said they would look at competence and experience, general appeal to the
public, ability to win the 2024 elections, the financial clout to prosecute the
party's campaign and ethnicity and religious background in that order.
They stated further that although there was a caution against
campaigning along religious and ethnic lines, those factors would be key going
into the 2024 general election, and that those elements could not be wished
away.
Open endorsement/camps
Already, there has been open endorsement from both serving and
former government officials, as well as some former party executive and MPs for
Dr Bawumia although the rules of the process frown on this act.
However, some delegates said they would
defy the system and vote for a new face to lead the party in the 2024
elections.
The campaign spokespersons for the four aspirants have expressed
optimism about winning Saturday's contest following their interactions with the
party delegates.
They all claimed their campaign messages had been well received by
the delegates, and come Saturday they would receive the nod.
However, the race is expected to be a close contest between Dr
Bawumia and Mr Agyapong per our interactions with the delegates.
Elections
The Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye-led Presidential Elections Committee
(PEC) tasked to conduct the election has given an assurance of a transparent,
free, and fair polls with the assistance of the Electoral Commission (EC) and
the Ghana Police Service.
The EC and the police are solely responsible for the conduct of the
election and security respectively.
The party, in the operational guidelines released by the PEC,
indicated that for a contestant to be validly elected, the candidate must
obtain more than 50 percent of the total valid votes cast.
It said where, however, no candidate obtained more than 50 per cent
of the total valid votes cast, there shall be a run-off between the first two
contestants, and the contestant with a simple majority shall be the party’s
presidential candidate.
It added that in the event that two leading contestants obtained
the same number of votes but failed to obtain more than the 50 per cent
threshold, a run-off election will be conducted to resolve the tie. The entire
delegates will vote to break the tie.
It said in the event that one contestant secured the highest number
of votes without reaching more than the 50 per cent threshold, and two other
contestants tied for second place, a run-off election will be conducted between
the two candidates to determine the winner who shall then contest a run-off
with the original winner to select the final winner.
A date shall be set for the same delegates to vote to select
a winner.
If a tie should re-occur, a ballot supervised by the EC shall
be conducted.
With the above guidelines, the four flagbearer hopefuls and their
campaign teams have indicated that they are not leaving any stone unturned to
win the contest and lead the party into another election.
The grounds for the level of optimism expressed by the various
camps of the aspirants would be known on Saturday in the election that would
take place in all the 276 constituencies, including the yet-to-be-created Guan
Constituency in the Oti Region and the party headquarters in Accra, bringing
the total voting centres to 277.
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