A founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, says Alan Kyerematen will struggle to gain votes except for the Ashanti Region as the youth he relies on have lost hope in him due to his inability to address their needs for the seven years he was in government.
“He is relying on the youth and the youth will ask him one simple question, you’ve been in government for 7 years, what have you done, what did you say and that’s what the youth will use to judge him and they will never vote for him,” he stressed.
The NPP stalwart in an interview with TV3‘s Evelyn Tengmaa says Alan’s resignation has come rather too late.
“He has credibility,” he noted. “If he had resigned earlier, then he would have had a very good standing and people will look at him more seriously.”
Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe says he is not surprised by Alan’s resignation from the NPP, stating that despite his significant contributions to the party, he should have resigned earlier.
The NPP stalwart will not absolve President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the blame and alleged disunity within the party.
“If he [President Akufo-Addo] is behind certain people to position who should lead the party, then definitely he is the one behind the disunity in the NPP.”
He criticized the NPP leadership for not being in good standing and suggests that a responsible party should have addressed Alan’s concerns after the Super Delegates Conference.
“The Super Delegates Conference took place almost a month ago plus. A responsible political
party should have come out or preempted what he [Alan] was going to do.
“The leadership of the party itself is not in good standing to me because they should have immediately come out to explain to the public and speak to Alan directly.”
The NPP stalwart predicts that although Alan’s decision to contest as an independent presidential candidate would affect the NPP’s chances, he believes his impact will be limited to the Ashanti Region.
“Historically, an independent candidate has not done well in this country. To me, his resignation will have an effect on the NPP. If it did, he will have to look more in the Ashanti Region where he may get some votes. I don’t believe that he will get votes from any other region, believe me.
“My only worry is that it’s going to deepen the ethnocentric sort of feeling that the people have about our party, the NPP.”
Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe also indicated that the MPs and ministers who were following Alan and have withdrawn were not genuinely for him.
“They are withdrawing or disowning him because they know they have seats and their constituencies to see to. The party has also come out to say that if you follow Alan then you are no more a member of the party and that will affect them.
“Secondly, some of them want to come back to Parliament so they would not want to destroy that opportunity. So I’m not surprised at all.”
By Evelyn Tengmaa|TV3|3news.com|Ghana