Political parties gear up for by-elections

THE two leading political parties in the country are gearing up for the limited election at Akwatia and the by-election for Chereponi.
But, while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is preparing for the Bawku Central as well, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has played down on any possible by-election claiming that until the court processes were exhausted, they did not foresee any by-election.
However, with the Chereponi by-election, most of the political parties have expressed their readiness to participate.
Aside the NDC and NPP, the remaining political parties are not laying out any plan for the limited elections at Akwatia because no amount of votes from the six polling stations can change their fortunes to win the seat.
The Supreme Court last month ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to go ahead and conduct and supervise elections in six polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency.
In a unanimous decision, the court upheld an application for certiorari to quash the decision of the Koforidua High Court that restrained the EC from declaring the results of the December, 2008 parliamentary election in the constituency and conducting a special parliamentary election in the constituency.
The total registered voters for each of the six polling stations at Akwatia are as follows: Presby JSS — 1,183; Yoruba Mosque ‘A’ — 920; Yoruba Mosque ‘B’ — 838; Lorry Station ‘A’ — 610; Lorry Station ‘B’ — 626 and AME Zion Church — 404, thus bringing the total to 4,581.
The Constituency has 89 polling stations and out of the 83 polling stations declared, the NPP candidate, Dr Kofi Asare obtained 16,889 votes as against 13,810 by his NDC counterpart, Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed. Mr Basil Ahiable, independent candidate polled 1,835 votes while Samuel Adjei (CPP) had 109 votes with Samuel Abrokwah, another independent candidate polling 64 votes.
The Chereponi by-election which was necessitated by the death of Doris Asibi Seidu, the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency on August 1, 2009 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital is scheduled for September 29, this year.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Yaw Boateng-Gyan, the Deputy National Organiser of the NDC said the party “still believes that it has a bright chance of winning the seat through hard work and vigilance .”
He added that although the NPP candidate was leading by more than 3,000 votes and the voters for the six constituencies were more than 4000, the NDC could make a big difference through hard work.
Regarding Chereponi, Mr Boateng-Gyan explained that the party had dispatched some leading members from the regional office to the constituency to begin the process of selecting a candidate through a primary.
He urged all interested party members to purchase the nomination forms and apply.
Mr Boateng-Gyan said after the application, the constituency, regional and national office of the party would undertake the vetting and primaries.
He said presently, the party had reactivated its campaign machinery, especially in the Northern Region and the Chereponi constituency to begin preparatory work.
Mr Boateng-Gyan who did not want to be drawn into the legalities of the Bawku Central case because it was pending in court, said the party was preparing itself in readiness for any possibility.
He said when the court processes were dealt with and the EC had declared the seat vacant, the party would take the seat “because we are making frantic efforts to ensure that we take it”.
According to the Communications Director of the NPP, Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, although the Akwatia election could best be described as a done deal, the level of intimidation and harassment being meted out to supporters of the NPP demanded vigilance.
He said some national leading members of the NPP had been dispatched to the area to lend support to the constituency executives for both campaigning and policing the ballots.
With regard to Bawku, Mr Kwarteng said as far as the NPP was concerned, Mr Adamu Daramani remained the MP for the area until otherwise determined by the court.
“Until the judicial process was concluded, we are confident that he will be in Parliament for his whole four-year term”, Mr Kwarteng added.
He said because of the Chereponi and the Akwatia by-elections, the party had postponed its national delegates conference to August 22, this year.
Mr Kwarteng said the party would in due course select a candidate for Chereponi to maintain the seat.
The General Secretaries of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet and Mr Bernard Mornah, respectively made it clear that their parties would not participate in the Akwatia limited by-election.
They also maintained that their parties would wait till the court processes were exhausted before they would make any move on Bawku Central.
On Chereponi, Mr Mornah said it was likely the party would maintain its 2008 candidate, provided those in the constituency would agree to the decision.
Mr Greenstreet said because the party’s candidate for Chereponi in 2008 general election fared badly, “it is unlikely we will field him”.