Information reaching the statesman indicates that the NPP will hold its presidential primaries to choose its flagbearer in March 2010.
According to our sources, this decision was taken at the NEC meeting held in Accra on Tuesday. At the meeting, party National chairman peter Mac Manu and the NEC members drew up the programme for the election of party officers across the country. Starting from next month the party will hold series of elections to fill executive positions in the polling stations through the constituency, regional and end with the election of national officers in December. The party's constitution demands that a three month notification period for the flagbearership contest (National Congress) must be given before the election of the flagbearer.
With March being the proposed date, this will mean that the new party officers will have the election of a flagbearer being their first major task after their election. According to our sources, the proposed date received no opposition from members at the NEC meeting. This we are told came from a collective understanding within the party that the party needs to as quickly as constitutionally possible conclude the matter of choosing its Presidential Candidate quickly so as to unite and mobilise the party and present a clear force of opposition against the Mills’ presidency. Also per the amended constitution, the flagbearer's running mate should be chosen next year (i.e. 2 years before the next presidential elections).
About 115,000 delegates will choose the new flagbearer in elections that will be held across all 230 constituencies in the country. For the election to be held in March the current national executives have the task of putting in place modalities required to implement the amendments made at the National Delegates’ Conference in preparation for the elections. This should include regulations such as: where the elections for the flagbearer will be held; whether or not counting will be done at the various polling centres or brought to one central point for counting to take place; and the setting up of Nasara clubs in areas where they don’t exist.
