NPP Wants a Re-run

After shifting goal post

-Praying to God to touch the heart of judges

By A A Yayra As the political battle that was proposed to be the Lords’ suddenly transmogrify to be for the Supreme Court, Ghanaians would have to brace themselves to be witnesses to the biggest political theatrics of all times, seeing that, leaders of the New Patriotic Party are now on their knees praying for re-run of the December 2012 election.

The Al-Hajj is in the know that, an NPP spin doctor together with some leading members of the party, who have initially high up the hopes of their supporters that per their “water tight and incontrovertible evidence of electoral fraud” the Supreme Court will overturn results of the December 2012 election and declare Nana Akufo-Addo as President, have coiled back to their shells and are now using some pro-NPP media houses to push for a re-run of the election.

Having publicly accused the Electoral Commission and President John Mahama of perpetrating fraud, which the party claimed resulted in Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo been robbed of victory and subsequently seeking refuge at the Supreme Court to declare him President, the NPP, who have since been engaged in nothing, but shifting of political goal post, are now banking their hopes on divine intervention for a re-run of the elections.

Sensing that their request to the highest court of the land to invalidate the election results and to declare Nana Akufo-Addo President cannot materialize, spin doctors of the NPP led by the nephew of the defeated Presidential candidate and Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko have successfully oiled their political schemes and have brought out a strategy to prepare the minds of their supporters.

It is awfully refreshing to note that, after exhorting their supporters to take to the street to protest against electoral fraud, and sonorously stating at the court of public opinion that the election was tainted with massive fraud, leaders of the biggest opposition party in their petition to the Supreme Court challenging the election results; either deliberately or by whatever decision dropped the charges of fraud and stealing and rather cited cases of electoral irregularities.

With the daily endorsement of the President by renowned traditional leaders across the country and by virtually all, who matter in Ghana, the leaders of the NPP now have their feet trembling and palms palpitating leaving them with no option than to hatch for new plans.

What seems to have exactly mirror the NPP’s drift from its earlier position on the election petition at the Supreme Court, was a recent publication in The New Statesman, which is backstage edited by Gabby, among other things suggesting that the ruling National Democratic Congress is currently scouting for a possible replacement for President John Mahama in anticipation of a ruling annulling his election.

According to the paper, its source at the NDC headquarters has disclosed that ‘in anticipating a Supreme Court ruling in favour of a re-run of the election, NDC primaries to elect a new leader in the stead of the discredited John Mahama will have to take place within a matter of two weeks so the party can effectively campaign with a relatively “newer candidate.”

According to the story, power blocs within the ruling party are of the view that electorates will not be comfortable voting for a presidential candidate who has been linked with issues of electoral fraud hanging on his necks, hence the need to present a “cleaner’ candidate to rub shoulders with Nana Addo.

The NPP’s current position on their petition before the highest court of the land has not just taken it ‘joke’ to the uppermost crescendo of any political jurisprudence across board, but has also ignited serious minds within its own stock wondering if the leadership of the party have any well cut out motive for challenging the election results at court.

The New Statesman story mentioned names like the Member of Parliament for Nadowli West, Alban K S Bagbin, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, and Interior Minister designate, Kwesi Ahwoi, MP for Ningo Prampram, Enoch Teye Mensah, and Ekwow Spio Garbrah, one time flag bearer aspirant of the NDC as prospective candidates.

The NPP rejected the official results of the December 2012 election, as announced by the EC, and is currently challenging the results, which awarded the NDC’s candidate, President John Dramani Mahama, 50.7 percent of valid votes cast, as against 47.7 for Nana Addo.

After filling a petition at the Supreme Court, the chairman of the party, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey offered the basis on which they took such decision and he stated that the party’s stance is against the background of what it terms gross “abnormalities”, “fraud” and “inconsistencies which characterized figures which placed President John Mahama as winner of the polls.

According to Jake; a view expressed by many leading members of the party, per their evidence, Judges at the Supreme Court, will have no option than to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as President, a position the defeated candidate has been fruitlessly eying over a decade now.

What seems to have left the leadership of the NPP scratching their heads and biting their nails is the reality that has dawned on them that their evidence before the court cannot hand Nana Akufo-Addo the presidency, hence they are now on their knees praying for God to touch the heart of judges at the supreme court to order a re-run of the election.