Yaw Buaben Asamoa, a former Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has criticized his dismissal from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), characterizing it as a rigid approach coupled with what he terms as ‘mafia’ tactics.
According to him, this approach may not serve the interests of the general membership well.
He emphasized the right to support political activities independently under Article 55(2).
“First, our public conduct in unconditionally and with great conviction supporting the highflying independent candidature of Alan Kyerematen for president is against the NPP constitution, which provides for automatic forfeiture of membership under article 3(9)(1). That is incontestable and therefore needs no formal written notice.
“Unfortunately for the Party ‘Leadership’, the wholesale application of the poorly written article 3(9)(1), may not be serving the interests of the general membership of the Party well.
“By not differentiating between support for presidential and parliamentary candidates, conduct against a presidential candidate, results in forfeiture of the parliamentary vote as well. This is clearly out of step with the fast developing political culture of “skirt & blouse”, where voters increasingly mix their choice of presidential and parliamentary candidates based on factors other than what the party ‘Leadership’ says,” part of the statement said.
Yaw Buaben Asamoa contends that archaic rules diminishing party membership based on support for independent candidates may not align with evolving political practices.
He also drew attention to the fact that the Constitution of Ghana does not mandate political party affiliation for presidential qualification.
“Hundreds of thousands of NPP members and millions of sympathisers are deeply unhappy at the so-called ‘mafia’ tactics of intimidation and inducement used to skew delegate elections in favour of choices that may not necessarily be popular with the general electorate.
“Indeed, the ‘mafia’ approach is against article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which demands democratic principles in internal party processes. Whilst there is value to being part of an ‘organisation’ like a ‘party’, continuing exclusionary practices, quietly erodes loyalty and conviction, over time.”
NKONKONSA.com
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