A WIND of "positive change" is currently blowing in the Eastern Region branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
This wind of change is blowing away almost all incumbent constituency executives for the new crop of people to take over the administration of the party at local levels.
The positive change the party preached during the 2000 general elections won it the mandate of the people to wrest power from the NDC.
As the party's constitution stipulates, there shall be a constituency delegates congress every three years to elect officers who will man the party, hence the ongoing constituency congresses in the region.
What has become of these congresses is that most of the incumbents who lost have threatened to defect to other opposition parties, such as NDC, CPP, and PNC.
They are peeved, following their defeat, and contend that as people who fought for the victory of the party in 2000 elections, they need to maintain their seats and continue their work.
At the Nkawkaw and Atiwa constituencies, where all incumbents were white-washed, the old executives threatened to defect to CPP, expose the NPP and campaign against it, come 2004 election.
In some of the constituencies, the party executives were at loggerheads with their Members of Parliament (MPs) and District Chief Executives (DCEs), creating a dispute between them and the electorate.
To those following the defeated executives, the latest development is not good for the party, as they worked to ensure the party's victory in the latest elections and have to continue.
But to those who are taking over from the old executives, it will give them the opportunity to instill fresh ideas and use more important strategies to keep the party in power.
A source at the NPP regional office at Koforidua warned that executive positions should not be given to defectors who just joined the party.
He explained that "they may have been planted in our camp by opposition parties to sabotage our plans to win the 2004 elections unknowingly."
To put the party on sound footing for the 2004 general elections, the party has to embark on reconciliation exercise to reconcile both the winners and the defeated and peeved members within its camp.
Meanwhile, a section of the public has also praised the party for putting its house in order ahead of the 2004 general elections by conducting early elections for its constituencies.
If this wind of positive change will continue blowing from the constituency level to regional level, then the regional executives should watch out for shocks and surprises, come the regional delegates congress this month.
