Reset to normalcy for victory 2016:Kwame Pianim appeals to NPP
An elderly member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwame Pianim, has called on the leadership of the party to reset to normalcy and to position itself to prosecute an effective campaign for victory in 2016.
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He said he was frustrated over the troubles in the party, almost like a child watching her parents get divorce and, therefore, appealed to the party leadership to do away with their pride, cease fire, as well as refocus and sacrifice to get the campaign for 2016 going.
Speaking to the media in Accra last Tuesday about the wranglings in the party, Mr Pianim said a lot of NPP supporters were heart-broken over the troubles in the party.
"Everybody should withdraw their cases from court, suspend whatever suspension has gone on, and together shift our focus only on the 2016 elections," he appealed to the party leadership.
Smoking peace pipe
In his view, the time for smoking a peace pipe is now and that will happen if all sides in the party are able to tell themselves in the face that what we want is political power and not unnecessary bickering.
“All the insults in the press, all the press statements,all that should cease. Let’s all get together and work. We have a job to do, we are fighting an election,” he cautioned.
The NPP has recently been rocked with some internal crises, with the latest development being the suspension of its national chairman, Mr Paul Afoko, General Secretary, Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, and second national Vice chairman, Mr Sammy Crabbe, for consistently working against the flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo.
Alternative government
The NPP, according to Mr Pianim, could not portray itself as a functioning alternative government in waiting if it pre-occupies itself with infighting and trading of harsh words instead of addressing issues of the budget presented to the nation which affects the standard of living of the people in the country.
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He said whatever had gone wrong, this was the party of Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia who believed in dialogue even with apartheid South Africa.
Mr Pianim said it was, therefore, time for leadership to develop tough skin regardless of what had gone wrong, work together and sacrifice for the party for victory in 2016.
Rally behind flag bearer
He said when NPP leadership succeeded in puting behind them what had gone wrong and providing alternative measures for peace and tranquility, with the elected officers rallying behind the flag bearer,the NPP would convince Ghanaians to vote them to power.
Mr Pianim,therefore, urged the leadership, both the flag bearer and the elected officers, to embrace one another as one people from one great party.
“Like the good shepherd in the Bible who had to abandon his flock in search of the one missing, NPP leadership must behave in similar manner and go out there in search of the lost,” he counselled party members.
In his view, if NPP and National Democratic Congress members could disagree on a number of issues and still greeted one another when they met, what prevented NPP members who had had a family problem from meeting and talking about how to save this country from mismanagement and create jobs for the unemployed youth in the country.
Campaign team
He also urged the flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to quickly unveil his campaign team and hit the road running for all others to follow in a united front.
According to the senior member of the NPP, if the campaign team is unveiled, it will be in charge of operations of the campaign while the elected officers of the party will be engaged with the administrative functions.
“If political power is won in 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo will be in charge of running the governance of the nation, while the elected officers of the party, as well as the campaign team, will revert to their constitutionally mandated duties or functions,” Mr Pianim counselled.
Greatest gift
In line with this, he said the greatest gift the NPP could hand over to its supporters and sympathisers during this Christmas season was the move by elected officers to withdraw their court cases and for the party to call all suspended officers to unconditionally return to their posts for the party to move on with its campaign.