Rally behind NPP candidates for ‘a sweet, decisive victory’ in 2020 – Nana Addo urges

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has congratulated persons who won the New Patriotic Party parliamentary primaries, and asked the losers to rally behind the party for a decisive sweet victory in the December 2020 general elections.

He said it is time for the party to forge ahead in unity to win the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections to consolidate the successes chalked by his government.

“…to those who were successful, reach out and bring on board your fellow aspirants. To the unsuccessful aspirants, please reciprocate this gesture,” he stated in his congratulatory message to the party Monday.

The President said now that the primaries are over all party members and sympathisers should support their respective parliamentary candidates “fully so we can record, again, a sweet, decisive victory five months from now”.

The enthusiasm and camaraderie generated amongst party members, Nana Akufo-Addo said, are a clear indication of the collective commitment of the rank and file of the party to retain power in the December 2020 polls.

“Let us forge ahead in a united manner, and consolidate further the gains chalked in the quest to bring development, progress and prosperity to all parts of the country. This is our sacred duty, for the development of our beloved Ghana is bound up with the fortunes of the NPP,” he said.

He commends all party executives, delegates and aspirants for what he said was “peaceful, credible, efficient and successful” elections but admitted there were some breaches of covid-19 protocols in some constituencies.

The Saturday’s parliamentary primaries saw some 40 sitting NPP MPs lose their bid to contest on the party’s ticket in the upcoming general elections.

Among them were Mark Osei Assibey-Yeboah, Ben Abdallah Banda Frederick Opare Ansah, the Chairman of the Communications Committee, Collins Owusu Amankwaah, the Chairman of the Government Assurances Committee, William Quaittoo Agyapong, the Chairman of the Education Committee, and Alex Agyekum, the Chairman of the Youth and Sports Committee.

Majority leader in parliament Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has expressed regret about the development, stating it will big a big loss to parliament as the exit of the experienced MPs wil affect work of the House.

He stated that it takes years to build an experienced parliamentarian and for such people, including Ben Abdallah and Mike Assibey Yeboah to lose their primaries is a bad example for the country’s governance.

“We can’t go on like this,” Mr Mensah-Bonsu told TV3 Ashanti Regional correspondent William Evans-Nkum Monday.

In his view, experienced members of parliament are required to help in transacting parliamentary business.

“Building the capacity of a Member of Parliament is not a four-year matter; it is not even an eight-year matter. The axiom is that in parliament, the longer a person stays the better he becomes,” he argued.

When that is done, he said it positively affect governance.

Asked why the NPP did not protect such experienced parliamentarians considering their impact in parliament, the Suame MP said the constitution of the party made that impossible and that it will only take dialogue for such issues to be resolved.

“For now there are constitutional issues to contend with. It provides [after] every four-year tenure the party should provide for the participation of all who desire to be in parliament so in that regard it becomes difficult in the face of the constitutional provisions to prevent people from coming to contest,” he indicated.