A Civil Society Group, Alliance For Elections Watchers says the ruling New Patriotic Party stands the risk of a dwindling electoral fortunes if it does not allow the Vice President and Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Dr Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia the free hands to select his running mate.
The group has also questioned the basis upon which a survey supposedly testing the perferrability of certain individuals as running mate for the ruling New Patriotic Party presidential candidate, Dr. Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia, was conducted.
Describing such survey as unnecessary and unscientific, the group argues that it is not politically prudent to make an informed decision on who to select as a running mate for a particular candidate when individuals have not officially put themselves up for contest.
“The results of such survey is fundamentally flawed for several reasons” the group contended, stressing the running mate position is not a contested slot to be vied by individuals.
According to them, such reports only put undue pressure on the presidential candidate who requires a sound independent mind to male an informed decision on who he prefers to partner him.
“In any case let’s not forget that Dr. Bawumia himself was not selected on the basis of a national survey neither did he engage in media blitz to catch the attention of then flagbearer, Nana Akufo Addo ” it noted in a statement released in response to the alleged survey.
The Alliance For Elections Watchers therefore warned that the NPP stands the risk of losing its electoral fortunes if it does not give the flagbearer the free hands to select his preferred choice.
“We know Dr. Bawumia is not oblivious of the fact that selecting a running mate goes beyond just what some few individuals and media personalities will say, otherwise he (Bawumia) himself wouldn’t have been selected in the first place let alone get the slot the second time by Candidate Akufo Addo” the group observed.
Dr Frank Opoku Mensah
Coordinator