NPP Presidential balloting postponed - Meeting between party officials, aspirants ends inconclusively

A meeting between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Elections Committee and the four presidential aspirants to ballot for positions on the ballot paper ahead of the November 4 presidential primary ended inconclusively.

This was after some of the aspirants raised concerns about developments that had the potential to mar the integrity of the elections.

The about four-hour meeting started at about 11 a.m. with the Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, leading the EC team.

A former Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Presidential Election Committee, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye; the NPP National Chairman, Stephen Ayensu Ntim; the General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, and other party bigwigs were also at the meeting.

Two of the presidential flagbearer aspirants, Kennedy Agyapong and Dr Afriyie Akoto, were at the meeting while the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, was represented by a former Vice-Chairman of the NPP, Fred Oware.  

Mr Francis Addai-Nimo was represented by members of his campaign team.

However, after the marathon meeting, the parties failed to iron out some differences that preceded the scheduled balloting. 

All parties to the meeting left without uttering a word to the scores of journalists that had converged on the premises of the party headquarters to cover the event.
 

Concerns

Although there was no official communication on what transpired at the meeting, the Daily Graphic gathered that Mr Agyapong demanded that disciplinary proceedings against him must be truncated.

Mr Agyapong is also said to have demanded that the party condemned the attacks on his team members.

The paper also learnt that some of the aspirants demanded that the party should reverse a national council decision that permitted appointees to serve as polling agents during the November 4 elections. 

Update

The spokesperson of the Presidential Elections Committee, Alexander Afenyo Markin, told the media that all concerns that were raised during the meeting had been deliberated upon. 

He declined to itemise specific concerns that were raised, except to say that the election committee and the EC had heard the concerns and would incorporate same into the election guidelines ahead of November 4.

“All concerns that were raised are receiving attention.

Individuals who complained about certain things happening to them at certain polling centres have been heard; those who perpetrated such acts have also been invited and have been heard,” he said.

The Efutu Member of Parliament (MP) said as soon as things were put in order, balloting would be done for the aspirants to know their positions on the ballot paper.

He urged the aspirants and their supporters that the election was an internal contest so there would be no loser or winner.

“We need to be united to face the National Democratic Congress (NDC) so the aspirants should help the party to do this.

They should let their followers know that if they have issues, they should channel it to the election committee,” he said. 

Mr Afenyo Markin stressed that there was no need for anyone to take the law into their hands and make comments that would hurt the party.