NPP Guru Suggests What NPP Must Look At Before Expanding The Number Of Delegates In Primaries.

Election 2020 has taught so many politicians a lot of bitter lessons they may forever keep in their minds till their graves. Some supporters of both the NPP and the NDC have been explaining how things should be managed going forward.

The loss of NPP’s Akwatia Seat in the Eastern Region which was hitherto occupied by hairdresser Ama Sey and the Fomena Seat saga have brought about a new discussion that has to do with the party’s primaries. Even though many have suggested what they think should be done, P.K. Sarpong has summarized it all.

P.K. Sarpong noted;

***The calls for an expanded electoral college as regards our parliamentary primaries have reached deafening notes as many party members seem to favour such a system than the one in use currently.

The reason is simply that it would afford more grassroot party members the opportunity to select the candidates who are loved by the larger population within the constituency.

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To the hundreds of thousands of patriots out there, the phenomenon whereby only the rich can survive in parliamentary primaries would screech to a halt if conscious efforts are made to change the way we select our parliamentary candidates.

While I am in love with this proposition, I also think it is a bit idealistic until pragmatic measures are ideated to carry this out.

One of the contentious issues is how to keep non-party members at bay during this process. Such a system can be infiltrated by some opposition elements who may influence the outcomes of the selections.

The first challenge is to get a database of true party members. It would take months to effectively compile this list and if we really mean to do so, we must start early.

Paid-up members should be the target. Do we have people paying monthly dues for the party as we speak? How many are paying dues now? I may not be in a position to know the answers to these questions but I am also aware that there are virtually no party members paying dues.

What this means is that, there is the need to get people to start paying dues which would form the basis for the transition we talk about. Without that, our proposal would remain a mere wishful thinking.

We must pursue this agenda of allowing more grassroot party members to be involved in the selection of our parliamentary candidates, but we cannot avoid certain prerequisites.

P.K. Sarpong, Whispers from the Corridors of the Thinking Place.*

What do you make of this?