NPP is in a fix following boycott - Lecturer

Dr. Alidu Seidu, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana has described the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a political entity currently stuck "between a rock and a hard place’ due to its decision to boycott all government businesses which seek to endorse the presidency of President John Mahama.

The NPP Members of Parliament (MPs) are considering boycotting the President’s State of the Nation’s address slated for next week.


They have so far boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of President Mahama, the ongoing vetting proceedings by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, and have also not been partaking in the approval process by Parliament of vetted Minister designates.


Speaking to Accra based Citi FM on Friday, Dr. Seidu said that “the NPP is now between a rock and a hard place because when you look at the beginning of the boycott, they say that the boycott is based on a principle and the principle is that the President didn’t win last year’s elections in a credible way so they are going to use all legitimate means available to them to make the Presidency uncomfortable.”


According to him, principles should always be based on consistency until the said objective is achieved therefore, the NPP according to their earlier stance should continue with their boycott so as not to be considered as hypocrites.

Dr. Seidu however advised the NPP MPs to not absent themselves from the President’s state of the nation’s address in a bid to consolidate Ghana's democracy.


“I believe that they need to be part of the process to make Ghana’s democracy holistic in nature.”


In a related development, the Programmes Officer at the CDD, Paul Abrampah Mensah, has appealed to the NPP MPs to “consider whether they have sampled the views of people from their constituencies to see whether they back their resolve to boycott Parliament” while they ponder over whether or not to boycott the activity,


In his view, the continuous boycott of proceedings and activities could potentially affect the development and well-being of their constituents “because if you are taking a decision, you are representing a whole number of people.”