'You have forfeited your membership already' - NPP to independent candidates

Bono Regional Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Seth Asare Bediako on Monday reminded Party members contesting as independent parliamentary candidates of forfeiture of their membership per the Party’s constitution.

He impressed on members, supporters and sympathisers of the NPP to reject the candidature of those independent candidates in the interest of the Party and intensify campaign for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to win the December 7 polls for progressive development.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr. Bediako said Article 3 (9) of the NPP’s Constitution was categorical on the forfeiture of membership, warning that Party members who endorsed such independent candidates “would also be subjected to the spirit and letter of the Party's Constitution”.

“We have the benefit of history to guide us in our reasoning and justification for the current President of the Republic of Ghana to serve his second term with a good and convincing majority of legislators in the Parliament in order not to thwart and frustrate the implementation of the President's flagship policies and programmes”.

“Therefore it would be politically unwise for anyone who supports President Nana Akufo-Addo to vote for an independent parliamentary candidate who is not recognised by the President, and whose sole pre-occupation in parliament will be to undermine the programmes of the government that require parliamentary ratification”, he explained.

Mr Bediako stated that voting for an independent parliamentary candidate or the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had damning consequences and would thwart government’s progressive policies such as the Free Senior High School, One-District-One-Factory ( 1D1F), One-Village-One-Dam (1V1D), Zongo Development Fund and many other social intervention programmes being implemented by the government to alleviate the socio-economic plight of the people.

“The intention of every prospective parliamentarian is to lobby the government of the day in order to draw attention to the developmental challenges in his/her respective constituency. In situations where President Nana Akufo-Addo has publicly denounced independent parliamentary candidates it stands to reason that no audience whatsoever would be granted to such candidates by the government should they even sail through the elections.

“It's in the interest of progressive development and smooth parliamentary democracy for us to massively endorse President Akufo-Addo and all the 275 parliamentary candidates of the NPP in order to push further the unprecedented development initiatives of the government in its second term office", Mr. Bediako added.

“The NPP is being governed by a constitution and individuals who don't ascribe to the tenets of partisan democracy, but disregard internal party structures must all be rejected to strengthen the NPP’s internal democracy”, he said.