Pollster Ben Ephson has admonished the National Executive Council of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to review the proposal by some leading members of the party that sitting NPP Members of Parliament should be made to retain their seats without going for primaries.
According to him, such proposal is a “recipe for disaster.”
Speaking in an interview with Radio Gold, Ben Ephson was of the view that the retention of the MPs in their seats will spell doom for the party’s fortunes, come 2016.
This is because “if they have forgotten, that was the same thing that the NPP did when they stifled the attempt by persons who wanted to contest in 2008. Even with the three who went independent in 2008, they won their seats and fourteen of such persons went independent…that accumulated in a huge drop of more than 400000 votes against the NPP in 2008 (first round). So, this panacea is even worse than that,” he explained.
He also held strongly that such suggestion on the party front is “an election-losing strategy” and a “total disaster,” hence the need for a thorough evaluation to be done by the executives before considering the possibility to retain the MPs or go for an early congress.
Touching on the proposal before the party to go for an early congress to elect a Presidential candidate, Ben Ephson disagreed with the party’s position and posited that the proponents “feel threatened,” a reason for their proposition.
He explained that the NPP will be using the same Electoral College in 2010 which would not augur well for the party and also revealed that some regional and national executives of the party are behind the move to go for an early congress.
Source: GhanaWeb
