President J.A. Kufuor has filed his nomination to contest the position of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2004 presidential election.

He submitted his application forms to the General Secretary of the NPP, Mr Dan Botwe, at the party’s secretariat at a short ceremony at Kokomlemele in Accra yesterday.

In his brief remarks, President Kufuor said he had come to “file his nomination to seek employment as president from the year 2004.”

He said he decided to file his nomination on the last day of the period earmarked for such an exercise because it best suited him.

On the 2004 election, President Kufuor said he is not going to under-rate the potential of any contender because every election is a serious matter and, therefore, should be approached with all the seriousness it deserves. He said the challenge for him is how to win the presidency again and majority of the parliamentary seats for his party.

The party opened nomination on May 31 and was expected to end at 7p.m. yesterday. Each aspirant of the party’s presidential slot should be of good character and standing as well as pay ?100 million as a fee. His candidature is required to be endorsed by three founding members and supported by 10 party members from each of the 10 regions. At the time of filing this report, it was only the President who had filed his nomination and indications are that the President might be the only candidate because no other party member had even collected nomination forms as at the last day of filing the papers.

According to Mr Botwe, if it turns out that the President is the only person to have filed his nomination by 7pm yesterday, the party will still be required by its constitution to acclaim the President’s candidature at a congress to be convened by December this year.

He said the President’s application will be forwarded to the Vetting Committee of the party for scrutiny to ensure that he conforms to all the requirements and qualifies to contest the 2004 election on the ticket of the party. He explained that the Constitution of the NPP requires that the nomination of each presidential aspirant should be endorsed by 10 party members from each of the 10 regions and endorsed by three of the founding members of the party who are of good standing.

Mr Botwe said in accordance with the party’s constitution, no member of the party will be allowed to file his nomination for the presidential slot unless he has paid a prescribed fee, has a good character and has been a member of the party for at least five years.