Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has bemoaned the growing factionalism within the governing New Patriotic Party.
According to him, the recent trend is affecting the commitment of party members as compared to previous years when the levels of factionalism was limited.
In an interview with TV3 captured by wontumionline.com, the former President said the developments will not augur well for the party since it was operating within a democracy that thrives on numbers.
Kufour indicated that he has observed over the years that factionalism was creating deep cracks within the party after major contests.
“There’s too much talk about factionalism within the group [NPP]. If you are talking about proper democracy…an inclusive one, you wouldn’t emphasize factions.
“Once the practice of say selecting if you like polling station, organizational committee or constituency or national (is over), you wouldn’t be so divisive…emphasizing factions. ‘He belongs to that (faction) so no cooperation. (When) You do that, you are dividing the numerical force that you need for any democratic practice.
“You vote to pick a leader. There will be contest, there will be rivalries but the whole idea of democracy is, you go of course on the condition that the electoral field will be level and the process will be truly free and fair.
“Once you have gone into the contest and the results come out, whether they came in your favor or against, you close ranks and you follow the winner.
“But these days, I get the feeling after we’ve gone through the process of selection, there seems to be a rift that seems to be deepening which shouldn’t be the case,” he said.
Asked if the deepening factionalism could derail the party’s progress if left unchecked, Kufour cited the outcome of the 2020 parliamentary elections as a testament to the havoc factionalism could create.
“It will naturally [derail the party’s progress]. For instance the last elections…the 2020 one, because of intolerance and this deepened sense of factionalism, we heard all over the place of people going to vote ‘skirt and blouse’ in the national elections which should not have been the case and I believe that contributed to our reducing our seats in Parliament for instance. Dropping from 169 to 137, causing a spilt Parliament, a hung Parliament within just a space of four years,” a worried Kufour observed.