Kwadwo Poku, a flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has weighed in on the party’s recent notice regarding possible sanctions against failed presidential and parliamentary candidates who decide to go independent after the electoral contest. Poku views the directive as an effort by the party to retain its members and demonstrate its care for them.
In his statement, Poku highlighted the significant investment the NPP makes in recruiting members, emphasizing that the party cannot afford to lose them. He pointed out that the NPP will take measures to persuade the aspirants against breaking away, but ultimately, the decision lies in the hands of the candidates themselves.
This development comes as the party prepares for future political engagements and seeks to ensure unity and loyalty among its members. The NPP’s stance on potential sanctions aims to discourage any splintering of the party and maintain a strong and united front in upcoming electoral contests.
“That tells you the love the party has for its members. The party has a love for the members that it will restrain you from leaving. Because we don’t want to lose the best brains. The party will make an effort. It doesn’t mean the party doesn’t care.
“That point is to tell you that the party will make an effort to restrain you but the end decision is with the individual.
“It tells you the party is not forcing anybody out but it is making an effort to keep its members because it’s not easy to go out there – we keep spending money to do outreach to bring more people into the party. So we cannot just be pushing people out,” he said on JoyNews’ AM show on Thursday.
The NEC of the NPP has released a statement warning aspirants of sanctions in case they decide to break away either by going independent or joining another party, after losing in their upcoming primaries.
According to the party, all the aspirants have signed an undertaking committing themselves to support the eventual winner in both the presidential and parliamentary primaries.
Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Haruna Mohammed, therefore, said the party reserves the right to restrain any aspirant who will decide otherwise and apply the appropriate sanctions.
“These rules are designed before we open nominations so at the time of designing these rules, there was no aspirant and there was no way we could consult a non-existing aspirant.”
“This is a rule that the party has set, and if you know that when you lose you’ll contest as independent then you don’t pick the form or you don’t return the form, you wait until it’s time for independents to contest.”
“The sanctions are inside the rules, if you go against it, we will take you on because this is an agreement you have signed and the party will take the best decision,” he said.