General News of Friday, 30 May 2003

Source: gna

CPP sure of winning 40 seats in 2004 - Chairman

Mr Albert Atutiga, Northern Region Chairman of the Convention People's Party (CPP), on Thursday indicated that the party was poised to win about 40 Parliamentary Seats in the 2004 elections.

He said the CPP was now stronger and more popular in the three Northern Regions than ever saying, "the frustrations and disappointments that people are going through under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was an ample proof that CPP is going to dominate, come 2004".

Mr Atutiga told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Tamale that the party was at the moment going through an extensive reorganisation to prepare people at the grassroots to educate the electorate on the need for voting out the NPP and replacing it with the CPP to transform the national economy.

He said with a combined force of the People's National Convention (PNC), winning the Presidency was possible adding; "we can also win more than 100 seats to adequately steer the affairs of the nation".

Mr Atutiga, who is also responsible for the Upper East and Upper West Regions, debunked the NPP's assertion that it would win more than 150 seats in the next elections saying; "the NPP can do so without the seats of the three Northern Regions".

"So far as I remain the Chairman of the party in the three Northern Regions, no seat will slip to the NPP" he said, noting that most of the seats in the North were for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which according to him, was now a dying party.

He said the Northern Region branch of the CPP had elected 13 out of the 23 constituency executives and claimed that everywhere in the North the people were calling for CPP to win power.

He called on all sympathisers of the party to be up and doing to win more people for the party to enable it to win the 2004 elections.