Poitics Today: The NPP’s counter-intuitive tactics
It would be audacity stretched to the point of foolhardiness for anyone to suggest that Nana Akufo-Addo is going to be edged in the flag bearer race for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
After all, the two-time presidential candidate demonstrated quite comfortably in the just-ended special delegates congress that he is in a class of his own. While he swept the day with just about 81 per cent, his closest contender, Alan Kyerematen could only eke out 7.98 per cent of the total votes cast.
It does not take much effort to arrive at the conclusion that Nana Addo is going to replicate his impressive showing at the special delegates congress in the main flag bearer contest.
In a sense, the popularity of Nana Addo which was replicated in the polls is not the least surprising. There are many within the party who believe he has been marketed enough. And, indeed, there is no doubt that through the years, he has consolidated his image and reputation as the party’s strongest chance at winning an election.
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Not surprising, therefore, has been the calls for all others to step aside in order for Nana Addo to become the flag bearer of the party uncontested. Even though there were individual suggestions to that effect, the first of such unionised calls came from the Ashanti Regional Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The chairman of the council of elders, Mr Appiah Minkah, emphasised the need for all the six contenders to abandon their ambitions.
In the wake of Nana Addo’s strong showing, and in the light of the former Attorney-General’s decision not to contest the main flag-bearer race (inspite of the fact that he qualified), a similar call has been made for all three candidates to step aside to make way for Nana Addo to become flag bearer, uncontested.
The proponents of the no-contest trajectory cite the need to save money and to also ensure that acrimony is reduced.
But the attempts aimed at getting all others to step aside for Nana Addo are not only counter-intuitive but are bound to not only create disaffection in the party but also damage the electoral image of Nana Addo himself.
As it was pointed out in Ola Rotimi’s The gods are not to blame, ‘’a man meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.’’
The process leading to the election of the party flag bearer can be likened to a rite of passage. Those who go through it successfully are acknowledged duly for it.
In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, we are introduced to the character known as Unoka who is the father of the main protagonist and is described as a lazy debtor who likes to play the flute and get drunk.
He was pejoratively referred to as an “agbala” (a woman) because he feared blood and as a result was not considered as a warrior. In short, he had no title. The price tag for a title was to be a warrior which he very much loathed.
The situation is no different here. The price to pay for the NPP flagbearership is to contest the elections. At the end of the day, if Nana Addo emerges as flag bearer, it places all issues concerning his popularity and legitimacy beyond dispute.
Indeed, allowing events to take their own course (i.e. as stipulated in the constitution of the party) is the party’s only means of coming out stronger. The persistent and consistent drive to persuade other candidates not to contest Nana Addo would only weaken his popularity and create a cloud of doubt concerning his marketability.
It helps in ensuring that the other candidates who may be needed subsequently for campaigning do not feel embittered and bullied as a result of pressure to pull out of the race.
Allowing things to take their natural course would leave the ruling party with one stone less to pelt him with.
Sight need not be lost on the fact that it would be in Nana Addo’s own greater interest to contest the October 18 polls. It would be recalled that in the run-up to the 2008 election, there were similar manoeuvrings causing Nana Addo’s closest contender, Alan Kyerematen, to jettison his plans of contesting in a second round of polls in the delegates’ congress.
In a Joy FM interview somewhere in August 2010, he stated that he did not concede defeat in the party’s 2007 delegates’ conference but rather he surrendered victory to Nana Addo for the sake of the party.
It is amazing how the need to preserve the image and unity of the party has popped up as one of the reasons why the other candidates should jettison their ambitions.
But the NPP needs to be reminded that these calls are surely bound to be counter intuitive and may hurt in a serious way, a candidate who does not need those favours.
