The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, insists that decisions on dates and venues for presidential primaries are taken by the National Council of the party and not aspirants.
He, however, said suggestions are welcomed from any party member because of how tolerant the party is.
But the final decision rests with the National Council, he emphasised.
Mr Kodua Frimpong was speaking after the Council maintained its decision to hold the National Congress by the Special Electoral College at the various regions.
Nine out of the 10 aspiring flagbearers were said to have petitioned the National Council for the exercise on Saturday, August 26 to be centralized.
According to their petition, as gathered by 3news.com on Wednesday night, they wanted the opportunity to address all the delegates expected to vote in this first round of the selection of the party’s 2024 flagbearer.
They also claimed that it will be a waste of resources to organize the elections in 16 regions when less than a thousand people can be grouped at one venue for the exercise.
The matter is said to have been put to a vote at Thursday’s meeting and the status quo was maintained.
Speaking to TV3‘s Evelyn Tengmaa after the meeting, NPP’s General Secretary said the party is a tolerant one for opposing views but decisions on the date and venue of presidential primaries are taken by the National Council.
“It’s the beauty of our party’s internal democracy. We tolerate every view and I remember one of the key points that was raised at National Council was that it does not even matter if all the 10 aspirants had signed that they wanted it at one venue,” he said.
“National Council would have still gone ahead to take its own decision.
“So it’s not the aspirants who will determine venue for elections. It’s the National Council that determines. Yes, you can make requests but the requests can be accepted or rejected.”
Justin Kodua Frimpong said all the aspirants were happy with the final decision taken and pledged to abide by the rules of engagement.
He also revealed that an Election Committee to be chaired by Rev Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye has been set up to oversee the primaries.
