Former Communications Director of New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa, has said the party has not been proactive in enforcing its code of conduct for pre-presidential and parliamentary primaries.
Party Chair, Stephen Ntim cautioned prospective presidential candidate aspirants to abide by the party’s code of conduct to ensure free and fair elections in the upcoming flagbearer elections.
“I wish to make a passionate appeal to all prospective aspirants, their supporters, party members and all stakeholders of the Party to respect the rules of engagement. We should always be guided by the supreme interest of the party and eschew all acts that have the tendency of dividing our ranks…At the right time when a broader stakeholder consultation is done and this decision is eventually taken, the Party would issue appropriate rules and regulations to govern the conduct of these primaries. I once again plead to all party members to abide by these rules and regulations in the interest of the party”, he advised.
This was in response to concerns that some aspirants have already started campaigning in fragrant disregard to the party’s code of conduct which bars any form of campaign until an official announcement is made by the party.
But the former Adentan MP who now speaks for presidential aspirant Alan Kyeremanten says the caution is coming rather too late.
“We’re very mindful of the party, we respect the party… but in this case the party is reacting too slowly”, he told Komla Adom on 3FM Midday News.
“The party is in a position where it is unable to engage effectively and quickly. The most important thing is that the party must accept that this is the season, this is the time to engage delegates, so they must decouple the right to engage delegates from the nomination date”, he explained.
He also blames the situation partly on the inability of the party to fix a date for the party’s parliamentary and presidential primaries.
“But in this environment where the party is unable to confirm and conclude on a day to fix the date[for the primaries], it is unconscionable to the party itself to expect everybody to sit and wait for the clear way forward”, he said.
By 3news.com|Ghana