The New Patriotic Party (NPP) will conduct the final leg of its internal election on January 27, 2024, to elect parliamentary candidates (PCs) in constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) to contest on the ticket of the party in the 2024 general election.
Nominations for aspiring parliamentary candidates for the election in those constituencies would open on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, and close on Monday, December 25, 2023.
A statement signed and issued by the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Frimpong Kodua, dated Monday, December 11, 2023, to announce the conduct of the Extraordinary Constituency Delegates’ Conference to elect the party’s parliamentary candidates in the constituencies with incumbent MPs of the party, said no aspirant should be denied access to nomination forms.
Forms
“An aspiring parliamentary candidate denied access to the nomination forms at the constituency shall purchase the same at the regional secretariat, and if denied, the same may be downloaded from the party’s website (www.newpatrioticparty.org).
It said forms printed from the party’s website should be submitted to the general secretary at the national secretariat of the party in Accra, and aspirants who downloaded nomination forms from the party’s website should, on submission, show proof that they were denied an opportunity to purchase the forms at both the constituency and regional levels.
Filing fees
The statement said the nomination forms would be sold for GH¢3,000, while aspirants would pay a non-refundable filing fee of GH¢35,000.
“Women, persons with disabilities, and youth shall be granted a 50 percent rebate on the filing fee.
For emphasis, a youth is an individual between 18 and 40 years old,” it said.
In addition, aspirants are to pay a non-refundable development fee of GH¢40,000, while all payments shall be made in bankers draft to the New Patriotic Party National Headquarters, Accra.
Appeals
It said there shall be a National Parliamentary Appeals Committee to decide on appeals from disqualified parliamentary aspirants from Wednesday, January 10, 2023, to Friday, January 12, 2024 (if any), with the deadline for the submission of appeals to the National Parliamentary Appeals Committee being Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
It stated further that detailed rules and regulations for the parliamentary primaries will be attached to the nomination forms, which will be made available to aspiring parliamentary candidates upon purchase of the forms.
The leadership of the party reiterated its commitment to free, fair, and transparent parliamentary primaries and counts on the support of all stakeholders.
Orphan constituencies
The NPP concluded with the elections of its parliamentary candidates in constituencies; it has no MPs, also referred to as orphan constituencies, last Saturday across the country but put on hold elections in six of those constituencies.
They are Ketu North and Akatsi North in the Volta Region, Yilo Krobo in the Eastern Region, Jomoro in the Western Region, Fomena in the Ashanti Region, and Bawku Central in the Upper East Region.
The party, however, did not assign reasons for not holding the parliamentary primaries in those six orphan constituencies.
Source: Graphic Ghana