NPP Presidential Primaries: Party Leaders Must Ensure Fairness – Yaw Buaben Asamoah4 min read

Yaw Buaben Asamoa, former communications director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Yaw Buaben Asamoa is spokesperson for NPP flagbearer hopeful, Alan Kyerematen

A spokesperson for Alan Kyerematen, former Trade and Industry Minister and one of the presidential candidate hopefuls of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the party leadership to do everything within their mandate to ensure a free and a fair presidential primary.

The NPP is due to elect its flagbearer for the December 2024 general elections on Saturday 4 November 2023. The party opened nominations for the primaries on Friday 26 May 2023 and will close same on Saturday 24 June 2023. In the event that more than five (5) aspirants file their nomination forms, the party will hold a special delegates conference on Saturday 26 August 2023, to shortlist 5 who will contest for the flagbearership slot in November as prescribed by the party’s constitution.

Speaking on Asaase Radio’s flagship political and current affairs show, “The Forum” on Saturday (3 June), Yaw Buaben Asamoa, in answer to a question on whether or not some of the 10 aspirants who have thus far picked nomination forms should consider puling out and rather support the leading candidates, noted that contest in every political party is a right that cannot be taken away, however, the surest way to protect the interest of the party is to guarantee a free and fair internal elections and processes.

“The mischief that anybody will assume will arise from disunity or otherwise is best cured by fairness. A democracy is built on opinion and choice, so choice at the heart of democracy entitles everybody to put themselves up in the court of public opinion as long as processes are fair, nobody has a right to go against the public opinion.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that the leadership of the party who are in charge of organizing this election are up to their task, they recognize the duty that they have to keep the party in fighting shape and therefore, they will do everything in their power to ensure that none of the contestants come out of this feeling that they have grudge that they will use to undermine the collective efforts of the party,” Yaw Buaben Asamoa said.

“The mischief of undermining the party’s efforts will be cured by the steps the leadership of the party is taking to ensure fairness including certain administrative steps that are going on within the party.

“To assume that there will be problems and taking steps to negotiate some people out will create more problems than you are trying to solve. Who should be negotiated out and on what premises? Who do you look out in the face and say that you can’t be president?” Buaben Asamoa quizzed.

“Ones we have a system, it is too dangerous to sidestep the system and go for something as opaque as consensus building because the structures and basis for consensus building are too subjective and those are the things that will rather lead to disunity. I think we must go ahead and have an election, the only condition is it must be free and fair,” the former MP for Adentan further stated.

Aspirants

At the end of the first week of nomination processes in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of its presidential primaries, ten aspirants have picked up nomination forms to run for the top slot.

As at Thursday 1 June, Boakye Agyarko, the former energy minister, Francis Addai Nimoh, the former MP for Mampong in the Ashanti Region, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, the former general secretary of the NPP, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, an economist and former minister for regional co-operation, and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a former minister of food and agriculture, have acquired forms to stand in the presidential primaries.

The other people who have also picked up forms are the vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Kojo Poku, an energy expert, Alan Kyerematen, the former minister of trade and industry, Kennedy Agyapong, the sitting MP for Assin Central in the Central Region, and Joe Ghartey, the former minister of railways development and sitting Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan in the Western Region.

Super delegates

Under Article 12 (5) (b) of the NPP’s constitution, “where there are more than five contestants for nomination as the party’s presidential candidate, a Special Electoral College (super delegates) shall cast their votes by secret ballot for the first five contestants to be shortlisted”.

The provision goes on to list those who constitute the Special Electoral College. They are “the National Council, the National Executive Committee, the Regional Executive Committees, National Council of Elders and Members of Parliament”.

The rest are “three representatives of each of the special organs of the party, past National Officers, three representatives each from every external branch, founding members during the registration of the party at the Electoral Commission and all New Patriotic Party card-bearing ministers when the party is in government”.