Wishing all NPP aspirants good luck

The political season is gathering momentum, with the two major political parties — the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — putting in place mechanisms for the election of parliamentary candidates for the various constituencies across the country.

Today, the NPP goes to the polls to elect its parliamentary candidates for the 2020 elections in constituencies where it has no Members of Parliament (MPs).

The event, the first of two batches, is taking place in all the 16 regions. Delegates will select parliamentary candidates in 100 constituencies, involving 283 aspirants. (See story on front page.)

So far, the organisation of the primaries has been relatively smooth, except for a few challenges in six constituencies where elections  have been put on hold.

By and large, the Daily Graphic is happy about the way the NPP has gone about its activities without any skirmishes so far.

While the NPP is concentrating now on what it terms “orphan” constituencies, that is, constituencies where it does not have sitting MPs, the NDC, on the other hand, decided to stagger its parliamentary primaries into batches of two, one of which it has already done.

There had been instances in the past when such internal democratic engagements or exercises had degenerated into chaos and undesired ends.

Fortunately, it is worthy to note that such negative incidents that usually mark the rudimentary stages of our political process, such as parliamentary primaries, are missing in this political dispensation.

As the NPP goes through this crucial national exercise, the Daily Graphic would like to wish the party the best of luck and entreat all aspirants and delegates to respect the rules of engagement.

We note that the hierarchy of the NPP has so far worked to ensure that a level playing field prevails and that the national exercise will be conducted in a transparent and fair manner.

More so, all stakeholders in today’s exercise must know that the elections are not a do-or-die affair but a means of ensuring that the will of the delegates triumphs.

It is, therefore, imperative that as the party carries out this important exercise, we relegate our personal quests and interests to the background and allow the party or national interest to prevail.

Regardless of the outcome of the NPP primaries in every orphan constituency, it is our hope that the overriding goal should be for all to accept the results, and where there are genuine challenges, mechanisms within the party used to address them.

It is worthy to remember that when Ghana signed onto the decision to embark on its democratic journey, it was one born out of a desire for decency and orderliness within the body politic.

Such a disposition enriches good governance and enhances the quest to seek the common good of all citizens, devoid of acrimony and needless tension.

Thus if all goes well with our democracy, it is the country as a whole that takes credit for it.

Our charge to all NPP members, supporters and sympathisers is that they should go about the exercise with decorum and desist from any act that will be at variance with the goal of the exercise.

As we urge the security agencies that will be deployed for the exercise not to relent in ensuring that all delegates go about the exercise in a peaceful manner, it is our hope that the outcome of today’s polls will enhance the globally acclaimed democratic credentials of the country.

The Daily Graphic wishes NPP well and hopes that the outcome of today’s event will form the basis for an enrichment of the country’s democratic experience, going into the 2020 general election.