Essiama (W/R), Aug. 24, GNA - Mr Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and incumbent Member of Parliament for Ellembele constituency in the Western Region was on Saturday given the nod to contest the seat on the ticket of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) for the forth time running.

At a constituency delegates meeting at Essiama, Mr Blay affectionately called "Ellembele Blay" by his admirers and had represented the area in Parliament since 1996, polled 75 of the 79 votes cast.

The other contestant, Nana Kwasi Brumia Twum, an educationist and Assembly Member for Nkroful had four votes. The election which was peaceful and orderly was conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC) and supervised by some national and regional executive members of the party.

However, before the election, Nana Twum vehemently protested to the EC Officials over the inclusion of some delegates who he alleged did not possess party membership cards on the voting list, and that the list was prepared to favour of Mr Blay.

In spite of this, the meeting continued without any incident. As soon as Mr Moses Awade, District Electoral Officer for Ellembele announced the results, supporters of Mr Blay went into jubilation amid singing and dancing with many of them doing the "kangaroo dance".

Mr Blay thanked the delegates for the confidence reposed in him once again and promised to deliver to ensure victory for the CPP in the upcoming elections.

He said the Ellembele constituency was the most well organized and urged other constituencies of the party to take a cue from Ellembele to enable the party to assume the reigns of political power.

Mr Blay promised to ensure peaceful elections saying, "I will not say or do anything to generate conflicts or violence," and urged CPP supporters to be nice to their opponents always.

"The election is not about life and death", he noted, adding "Ghana is bigger and greater than any political party".

He told the people that the constituency had had its fair share of national wealth under the present government and he would continue to work for improvement in the lives of the people of the area.