A Political Marketing Consultant has urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to address the concerns raised by Alan Kyerematen and other flagbearer aspirants prior to and after the super delegates conference.
This comes after the former Trade and Industry Minister announced his decision to quit the race.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, Professor Kobby Mensah stated that the issues raised including alleged violent attack on some persons and questions about the electoral process could undermine the party’s upcoming primaries.
“This is not the first time he (Alan Kyerematen) has highlighted the persecution of his members being one of the reasons why he is trying to stay out of the race. In 2007 he highlighted that the party should take measures to address the intimidation of his supporters, of course, he has highlighted the same thing.”
“He has highlighted a number of issues which I think actually undermine the electoral processes put forth by the party. He is not the only person who has highlighted this. What led to the outburst of Kennedy Agyapong can be linked to this issue, Boakye Agyarko and other people had complained. So, I think that it is a serious issue that the party has to address because it sort of legitimises the November process,” Prof Mensah said.
He stated that the party addressing the issue and resolving the conflicts could bring credibility to the presidential primaries expected to come off in November.
“When we talk about procedural democracy, we are looking at not only participation but representation of all quarters. We are also looking at the perceived credibility of the procedure. I am sure the party leadership, especially for a party that prides itself as a democratic party, will take some serious look at this particular issue and perhaps will take some proceedings to address it.”
“I think they should have actually done that when they set up a committee to look at the aftermath of the super delegates conference,” Prof Mensah added.
Alan Kyerematen on Tuesday evening announced his withdrawal from the NPP’s flagbearer race citing several reasons.
He cited intimidation, violence against a member of his campaign team and claimed that the party strategically organised the super delegates conference to favour one candidate over the others as some of the reasons for his decision.
Mr Kyerematen stated that pronouncements made by some leading members of the party before and after the elections lend weight to his observations.
“After having carefully analysed the results of the said elections, it is absolutely clear to me from events leading to, during and after the elections, that the Special Delegates Conference was strategically and tactically skewed in favour of one particular Aspirant.”
“The level of intimidation of varying intensity, directly and indirectly unleashed on a significant number of Delegates at various Voting Centers across the sixteen regions, is unprecedented in the history of our Party,” parts of the statement read.