Today marks a critical point in the history of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as party faithful converge on the Trade Fair site in Accra to make far-reaching alterations to the political grouping’s 16-year-old constitution. While some pundits consider the engagement as a clash between two opposing schools of thought which could disturb existing relationships, others see it as an opportunity for the NPP to display the democratic credentials.

This they often flaunt, to as it were, prove the point that they are more democratic than the others. The party had in 2003 amended parts of its constitution at a conference in Cape Coast, where some of the issues on the table today were rejected. For some, the obsession for altering the status quo is misplaced since according to them, the most critical thing for the party to do now is to determine the factors which led to its narrow electoral loss in the last national polls. This school of thought thinks also that the constitution has served the interest of the party well, all these years, and to think of altering it now is absurd.

But O.B. Amoah, MP for Aburi-Nsawam and a member of the Constitutional and Legal Committee of the party, said there is no cause for alarm. “NPP will be the winner whatever the outcome of today’s event,” Mr. Amoah, a former deputy Minister of Education and Sports said. In all, 70 proposals including the expansion of the electoral colleges and a name change from New Patriotic Party to National Patriotic Party were received by the General Secretary of the party and submitted to the Constitutional Committee which aligned them to 46 motions.

The name change was mooted by the USA branch of the party and is not enjoying any popular support among the rank and file of the party. Delegates are expected to vote by consensus and those issues which could not be decided on consensus, would be put to voting to be conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC). The commission is an observer and on standby to step in if the need arises. The subject of NPP’s constitutional amendment which a section of the media has chosen to consider a make-or-break activity, will indeed be a litmus test for the political grouping’s management of internal dissent.

Lord Commey, National Organiser, is upbeat about today’s deliberations, however predicting that it would be devoid of breaking of jaws. Preceding days witnessed screaming headlines about the event in varied shades, with the most pessimistic describing it as an “on the precipice activity”. The date is finally due and the watchword is discipline as the deliberations take off, considering the steep differences existing between those who are in favour and against alterations in the constitution of the largest opposition party in the country which lost very narrowly to the ruling party under circumstances which are still being debated by party strategists.

Expansion of the Electoral College to allow for greater participation, especially the grass-root base of the party, is the bottom-line of the concerns of those in the “in favour” group. What is unfolding today was preceded by the NPP NEC meeting on April 28, 2009 on the subject, followed by the National Council meeting on the afternoon of April 29. Concluding deliberations were held on April 30, 2009. Bagfuls of proposals from all over the country, with the consensus that the NPP Constitution has served the party well for over 16 years, poured in.

The foregone notwithstanding, there was a general agreement that modifications be introduced in some aspects of the constitution to provide for a more unified party and better mechanisms at managing the political grouping among other factors. Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman, is about to exit his position and today’s testy function which he summoned anyway, would mark the most prominent assignment he is going to perform before delivering his valedictory speech later in the year when the party meets again to elect new national officers.

That the 105,000 party polling stations strewn across the country seek more input in the choice of the presidential candidates of the party, is a critical point in today’s engagement. The expansion of the Electoral Colleges is intended to radicalise the nomination of party officers, parliamentary and presidential candidates, in a manner considered by those in favour of it as the best option for the party. The about 4000 percent increase in the number of party persons to be involved in the choice of the person who leads the party into the electoral duel at elections is unprecedented in the country’s history and could provide a benchmark for others to consider if all goes well.

Put bluntly, the number would jump from the current 2,340 to over 115,000, a situation considered as a way of placating worried party people in opposing camps on the subject. It is feared that some political killjoys could disturb the boat today as they yell against the amendments. An expanded Electoral College comes at a financial cost to the party; the opportunity cost of which some would prefer should inform the final decision to be adopted.

Those on the other side of this argument ironically think that having delegates in their local areas is a good way of saving cost and other inconveniences. Should the reforms carry the day, today, delegates who would be entitled to choosing the flagbearer of the party would include the National Council, the Executive Committee, the regional executive officers, the constituency executive officers, the electoral area coordinators, the five polling station executive officers in each constituency and the National Council of Elders.

Others are all Members of Parliament, three representatives from each external branch of the party, all existing founding members during the registration of the party at the Electoral Commission, 15 patrons, one TESCON representative from each recognized tertiary institution and all NPP card-bearing ministers when the party was in power. It is interesting to note that the amendment has a large following including the 2008 flagbearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who described the move as positive.

Other reforms to be considered today have to do with adding two deputies to the office of General Secretary and all three organisers from the national to the constituency level. Although agitations have been witnessed in the countdown to today, it is most likely that the NPP would survive the hullabaloo, and this Nana Akufo Addo predicted when he noted that the party would emerge from today’s activities stronger and re-vitalised.

Kwabena Agyapong, former presidential spokesman, would have rather the incumbent executives leave office at the end of their tenure which is around the corner, than engage in an exercise whose timing, for him, is inappropriate. Whatever impression party faithful and others think about today’s activities, the die is already cast and there is no turning back for the largest opposition to take another look at the tenets of its guiding document.

The outcome of the exercise concerns not only the NPP but the country as a whole, especially since the country is arguably almost operating a two-dominant party system. The recent abrasive Akwatia re-run in which the NPP triumphed is an important impetus to the party as the political grouping “reflects and rebuilds to recapture power in 2012, through far-reaching amendments”.