ALIU URGES NPP TO MANAGE PARLIAMENTARY PRIMARIES WELL (PAGE 12, JAN 12, 2011)

FORMER Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has stressed the need for the forthcoming NPP Parliamentary primaries to be handled cautiously in other to come out with winnable candidates while keeping the unity of the party intact.
He indicated that it was equally important to select popular candidates who could attract majority votes in the constituencies irrespective of their educational background.
The former vice president was briefing the media in Tamale after visiting some constituencies including Salaga, Bimbila and Wulensi as part of his second leg campaign tour of the northern regions.
“What matters in elections is about winning; but at the same time we would need to manage the primaries well to ensure the unity of the party after the exercise,” Alhaji Mahama said.
He observed that the divisiveness and rancour prior to the parliamentary primaries in the 2008 elections were partly some of the reasons why the NPP lost many of its seats.
Alhaji Mahama explained that the motive behind his early campaigns in the North ahead of the 2012 elections was to repackage the party and make it more attractive to the electorate.
“Party unity and fraternisation is the key to our victory in 2012 and that is why I have embarked on this early campaign in northern Ghana to interact with the chiefs and people who benefited from the massive development the Kufour-led NPP administration brought to their communities during the last eight years” he stressed.
He, therefore, called on the rank and file of the party to close their ranks and gird their loins for the 2012 general election which he said the NPP was determined to win.
He added that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) had failed woefully to address the needs of the people.
Alhaji Mahama expressed appreciation to the party leadership and supporters in the Bimbila constituency for their spirit of unity and urged them to retain the seat in 2012.
At Salaga, Wulensi and Adibo where Alhaji Aliu interacted with the chiefs, they all commended him for his visit and hard work and stressed the need for lasting peace in the region to ensure accelerated development.