Don’t use coronavirus as an excuse to impose candidates on delegates - NPP warned

A senior member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Amoako Tuffour has cautioned the party against plans to use the COVID-19 outbreak to impose parliamentary candidates on delegates.

Dr. Tuffour says any attempt to stop the planned parliamentary primaries and impose candidates on delegates and party supporters would cause the elephant family serious electoral crisis.

He told Kwabena Agyapong on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that the planned parliamentary primaries should be organised no matter the challenges.

The party he advised could adopt safety protocols in organising the primaries either at the zonal or electoral area level.

Dr. Tuffour predicted party supporters would be forced to vote ‘skirt and blouse’ in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections hence the need for the party to tread cautiously.

”Let the people decide. Respect their feelings and do not impose any candidate on them, because of COVID-19. They are the same people who will vote in 2020. You do not have to use the COVID-19 as an excuse to impose candidates on delegates. The repercussions would be dire for the party,” he added.

The governing NPP suspended its parliamentary primaries indefinitely in accordance with the President’s ban on public gatherings in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana.

The decision to suspend the primaries was decided at a National Steering Committee meeting held today, Tuesday, April 14, 2020.

Suggestions have been made for the party to select candidates to represent the NPP and cancel the primaries.

But Dr. Tuffour says such a move is undemocratic, dangerous, unacceptable and a recipe for disaster.