NPP holds congress today

ALL is set for today’s National Delegates’ Conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which will consider some proposed amendments to the party’s constitution.
The event takes place at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra, and it is expected to attract more than 2,000 people, including delegates, other party faithful, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of other political parties and some organisations.
It is expected that 1,450 accredited delegates will participate in the deliberations and vote on all the proposed amendments.
They include five delegates from each of the 230 constituencies, all Members of Parliament (MPs), all regional and national executive members and representatives of the overseas branches of the party.
Mr Peter Mac Manu, the National Chairman of the party, is expected to convene the conference as dictated by the party’s constitution. He will also chair the amendment discussions.
After the opening ceremony, the other deliberations will be held behind closed doors.
The national executive of the NPP, after the party’s defeat by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2008 general election, sent a committee out to ascertain from the rank and file of the membership what in their view resulted in the defeat of the party.
Not long after that, the party set in motion the process for amendment and invited proposals from its individual members and branches.
The Legal and Constitutional Committee compiled a document and presented copies to all branches for their perusal.
As stipulated by the NPP constitution, a conference must be held at least a month after the proposals had been sent out.
According to the proposed amendment, although the constitution had served the party well in most respects, it was agreed among the rank and file that various provisions of the document needed to be modified.
The aim is to offer the basis for ensuring a more unified party with a very good image.
It would also make the party more disciplined and equip it with effective mechanisms for resolving grievances and choosing its leaders and candidates at all levels, from polling stations to the national level, including parliamentary and presidential candidates.
Although the party’s highest decision making body will be considering several amendments grouped under 17 broad headlines, two of the amendments that have attracted much furore and attention from both party members and political commentators, as well as the media, are the expansion of the electoral college and the suggestion for a ceiling on the number of persons who can contest the party’s presidential primaries.
On the election of the presidential candidates, the document says the party requires a better system to select and elect the presidential candidates, and proposes a two-stage procedure; a special electoral college that will vote and select three persons where there are more than three aspirants at the close of the nominations for the position of presidential candidate.
According to the document, the special electoral college shall comprise the national council, national executive committee, regional executive officers, national council of elders, MPs, three representatives each of special organs of the party, past national officers, 10 representatives of external branches, all founding members during the registration of the party at the EC and all NPP card-bearing ministers when the party was in government.
.