NPP Takes Another Step

Tomorrow, January 5 2007, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) would be assembling in the Eastern Region capital, Koforidua, to convene its annual national delegates conference.

No presidential candidate would be elected, but the conference is expected to be a dress rehearsal for the main event later this year or early next year. There would most likely be a tabling of a motion to have an "early congress" to select a presidential candidate, a proposal which would lead to a lot of heat and possibly mar the conference.

Another fear, ADM, has been told is that some of the many presidential aspirants of the party would most likely turn the conference floor into a campaign arena, which could lead to squabbles. A party insider told the ADM that, "we should expect some trouble if some of the aspirants turn the conference into a platform to do their own thing."

Another insider told the ADM that those aspirants "who think they are ready, would insist on pushing an agenda to suit their particular interests, but no way "

Since the NDC's infamous Koforidua conference in December 2005, the town would most certainly develop a jinx of its own should the NPP conference degenerate into an unseemly contest by presidential aspirants.

In a New Year's Message issued yesterday, the NPP said, "As people, all of us may not have accomplished all that we had hoped for in 2006. However the NPP believes that with the provision of opportunities all the time under the Kufuor government, the chances of success are brighter".

It wished the country peace, prosperity and success in all her undertakings in the days ahead.

The Party said "though the government has put in place structures and policies aimed at uplifting the living standards and welfare of the people and these continued to yield positive results, we believe that there is much more to be done in order to give the people the contentment, which they rightly deserve".

The party therefore, urged all Ghanaians to "subject their individual and partisan interest to those of mother Ghana and come on board the development train".

The next two days would determine how the NPP itself would fare in the months leading up to Election 2008.