An aspiring General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Ferdinand Ayim, has dismissed assertions that the party would face a tough battle in the 2008 elections due to the simmering jockeying and bitterness that would arise when the potential candidates for the presidency and national executives vie for various positions in the party.

According to him, despite the jockeying and bitterness, the NPP would maneuver to chalk victory in the 2008 general and parliamentary elections.

"I do not foresee any rift that would occur during campaigns for the various national executives race, looking at the records of the party. All these are speculations and political gimmicks by our opponents."

"Yes, there is bound to be competitions, there is bound to be contests, but with all these things with hindsight, looking at the records of the NPP, there have been healthy competitions, we've been jockeying which at times turns into mudslinging but the most important thing is the reaction of the party once a choice is made and the history of the NPP is such that once the people have spoken, everybody stops shouting and supports the winner," he said Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Ayim admitted that defeats were very painful and could lead to raising ugly heads in the party, but the NPP has a tradition of appealing to its losers to concede defeat in the higher interest of the party, hence there was no cause to worry.

"Defeat would be painful for every candidate who would lose in the race for national executives' positions but the nature of the party was such that it had always been the spirits of losers to accept it in good faith," he emphasized.

According to him, though this would be the first time in the history of the NPP to replace a president after assuming office for eight years, the party has the capacity, evolution and innovative to triumph over any rift that might arise in future.

Poised to unseat any of his contenders, Mr. Ayim told this paper that besides the immediate past Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Madam Hawa Yakubu who had declared her intension to succeed Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, none of the possible aspirants for the presidency hadofficially declared their interest in the presidential race. He expressed concern about early declaration by interested parties, since there were three more years for the party to go for the 2008 elections.

Mr. Ayim said he agreed with the school of thought that insisted on concentrating on the projects that were ahead of the party, including the mandate that had been entrusted to the NPP by the people of Ghana. "If we are able to execute that mandate satisfactorily, then certainly, the NPP is bound to have a repeat of the people's confidence and we have a triple do," he maintained. He said the party had set a certain day in 2007, on which all the races were supposed to take place.

"The party has a framework within which everything is done; for instance between now and September, the field is opened for people who want to lead the party in terms of the composition of the national executives to do the necessary jockeying," he disclosed.

He was fast to mention that the current politicking, underhand and underground canvassing for the positions of national executives was constitutional. According to him, it was important for all aspirants to executive positions in the parties to test the waters for their chances so that they would not find themselves in the race without having the full feel of how the tide would be. He said if possible, he wanted the perception that the NPP was made up of Akans, rubbished. To him, the only reason for that baseless speculation was that the team, as national executives of the party, was mainly of Akan in composition.

He said it was worth noting that the NPP was not the only one suffering from such wild geese allegations. "There is a particular political party which is seen as northern in orientation and in composition, it is a perception." Mr. Ayim re-emphasized.