Kunbuor pushes for early NDC congress

Former Minister of Defence, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, has charged the leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to organise an early congress to pick its flag bearer for the 2020 poll.

His call follows deep cracks within the party with many leading figures trading accusations and blaming one another for the NDC’s electoral defeat in 2016, arguing that an early resolution of internal issues will be key in ensuring victory for the party.

Dr Kunbuor was of the view that if the current constitutional arrangement were to be adhered to strictly, the time for electing a flag bearer will be too close to the 2020 general elections.

“…Given all the preparations that are involved, it will mean that by the time you are getting to elect your flag bearer, you will be in 2019,” he noted.

Speaking with Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday, 6 April, Dr Kunbuor said: “A party that has suffered this level of defeat with so much internal acrimony and internal pain still in the mind, if we could not take eight years to galvanise that into an electoral victory, I don’t see how we can do that within one year or one-and-a-half years.”

The former lawmaker believed the current constitution of the party has clauses which can be explored in times of challenges and want the leadership to “use those powers to resolve a number of issues and I guess this is a useful thing we should be looking at”.

He is, therefore, calling for a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to pass a resolution to abridge the time which “will still be very constitutional” in order to have internal issues resolved.

According to him, there have been precedents where such clauses have been invoked to extend the constitutionally mandated period for executives in order to execute campaign duties.