No politics of insults at CPP primary today — Prof Delle
The Convention People’s Party (CPP) will not tolerate any politics of insults at its presidential primary which takes place today, the National Chairman of the party, Professor Edmund Delle, has declared .
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He has, therefore, advised the candidates to focus on what they can do for the party and the country if given the chance but not to engage in “hot exchanges and politics of insults”.
Speaking on the upcoming national delegates congress to elect a flag bearer for the party for this year’s presidential elections in an interview, Professor Delle said the central committee of the party had endorsed the “no politics of insults” policy.
Four candidates are vying for the slot to lead the party and one of them is Ms Samia Yaaba Nkrumah, the daughter of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and immediate past Chairperson of the party. She was the only party member who won a seat in the 2008 parliamentary elections.
Another candidate, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, is the immediate past General Secretary of the party and a vocal critic of the government. The third candidate is Mr Bright Akwetey, a legal practitioner and two-time presidential aspirant who is making his third time appearance. The fourth candidate, who is relatively new, is a Canada-based Ghanaian businessman, Mr Joseph Agyapong.
Peace-loving Ghanaians
“We are peace-loving people and the way we will carry out our campaign will attract the majority of peace-loving Ghanaians to our side to ensure victory come 2016. For us in the CPP, we were taught that our ideology is that people are brothers and sisters. You may disagree, but that doesn’t mean that you should insult. You don’t insult your brother because you disagree with him. The CPP must do this to show that we have come. We should be totally different from the rest,” Prof Delle explained.
Hate speech
He, therefore, advised the candidates to desist from speeches of character assassination and insults and hate speeches, reminding them that Ghanaians were looking up to the CPP as the only viable alternative.
“There should be no speeches that will lead to any break-up of the unity of the party. Let us know that the party is a united party. The candidates should tell us why they should be elected to lead the party,” he reminded the candidates.
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Professor Delle further urged the candidates to desist from campaigning along regional and ethnic lines, explaining that those issues had the potential of breaking up political parties.
Stay out of campaign
He also reminded the executive of the party that it was contrary to the rules of the congress for an executive member to openly campaign or support any candidate and, therefore, advised them to stay neutral to ensure sanity in the exercise.
While wishing the candidates the best of luck, Professor Delle said, “Ghanaians must remember that for us in the CPP, we have the men, the brains and above all, we have the organisational skills that will propel us to success in 2016.”
United front
Professor Delle challenged the presidential hopefuls and delegates of the party to ensure that they came out of it more united.
He reminded them that, “in this election, nobody is going to lose. When the flag bearer is finally elected, the rest should remember that they have not lost. It is the CPP that has won.”
Professor Delle urged the delegates and the candidates to exhibit a high level of unity that had always existed within the party to tell the world that the party strived for peace, solidarity and comradeship.
Focus of CPP
Asked of the focus of the party, he said, “the CPP Government now,” explaining that after years in the wilderness, the party was poised to ensure that all structures were in place to capture power in this year’s presidential election.
He said the current executive were determined to re-brand the party to make it attractive to the masses, especially the youth, and stressed that the CPP sought to redeem its dwindling electoral fortunes and re-position itself as a formidable political force.
Homecoming
He said as the chairman of the party, he had instituted what he called “Home coming” to attract all disgruntled CPP members who left to return to the party.
“I am proud to say that those members who probably left the party for the past three or four years are coming back,” he said.