Koforidua, April 23, GNA - The Eastern Regional Executive of the Convention People's Party (CPP) declared at the weekend that it has dissolved the Regional Steering Committee with immediate effect and put in place an interim committee to convene a party conference within two weeks.

A resolution issued at the end of a meeting at Koforidua on Saturday and signed by 25 constituency chairmen and executives also resolved that party structures should be respected and all administrative procedures, including the use of letterheads and signing of letters, should be adhered to.

To ensure smooth transfer to the substantive regional executives to be elected within a fortnight, the regional executive has put in place an interim committee consisting of the constituency chairman of Akropong, East Akim and Abetifi, and charged it to convene a regional party conference.

The resolution also directed that all the keys to the party offices and all other property of the party in the hands of the regional steering committee should be handed over immediately to the interim committee.

It stated: "We condemn and shall resist all attempts by leading members of the party from Accra to undermine the authority of the Eastern Regional leadership". "We do not recognise any group of persons, which calls itself duly elected Central Committee apart from the committee that was in place before the court injunction in November 1999."

The regional executive also demanded a reconvening of the Central Committee of the party to resolve what it called "the deep-seated crisis in the party" to pave the way for a peaceful and successful special congress to elect the presidential candidate and substantive national chairman.

"We shall not tolerate the machinations by some elements in the party to derail our participation in the presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2000," the statement said.