Director of Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba has reacted to the disturbances that occurred in some constituencies in the ongoing internal elections of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying violence has become a cherished practice by the party.
He said happenings within the NPP are not democratic and should stop. There were agitations at the voting center in the Okaikwei South constituency during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) elections over allegations that about 400 names had been removed from the register.
However, the police managed to restore calm for the exercise to commence. Four delegates were reported to have been arrested for obstructing the elections in Okaikwei South. Similarly, there were issues in the Subin constituency which nearly resulted in a faceoff between the lawmaker Eugene Boakye Antwi and an aspirant in the polls. The NPP started electing its constituency executives today Thursday, April 28.
Contributing to a discussion on the NPP’s elections on TV3’s New Day show with Johnnie Hughes Friday, April 29, Mr Amaliba said “Yesterday was 30 years when we approved of this constitution and that ushered us into the democratic dispensation. So if you are witnessing things of this nature where the elections were characterized by attacks on EC officials, attacks on Police, and then removal of people’s names from the album then you will want to find out whether 30 years on, after the approval of the constitution, have we progressed or we are retrogressing?
“The acts are not democratic at all. But there is a certain trend that is happening in the NPP where violence has become something of a cherished commodity and so you will not be surprised to see some of these things.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Yaw Buaben Asamoa has assured us that the leadership of the party will definitely address all the challenges that have characterized the internal elections so far.
He said the issues that were witnessed on day one of the exercise were expected given that the elections are being conducted on a large scale across the country at the same.
But, he said, lessons have been learnt. “The way we are trying to engage across the country there will definitely be a few hitches here and there on the first day. So, I think we will overcome any initial difficulties.
“We have five days within which every constituency is supposed to have voted so today will be a very valuable lesson learning curve,” he said on the News 360 on TV3 Thursday, April 28.
NPP Constituency Elections: Swift police intervention de-escalates a faceoff between the Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi and an aspirant at the Amankwatia School park where the exercise is taking place #3FMSunrise pic.twitter.com/T9ZXZeSI7Z
— #3FM927📻 (@3fm927) April 28, 2022
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
