Bolgatanga, Sept 11, GNA - Mr Isaac Atasige, Second Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region, said the selection of a running-mate should not be based on ethnicity or religious lines.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Bolgatanga on Friday, he observed that in selecting a running mate for the party, there was the need for the party to endorse somebody who had a lot of influence and the capability to attract more people to the party. Mr Atasige said there was the need for the party to have somebody who had the leadership skills and abilities to act as the president should he be on assignment elsewhere.

He said at present, what the party needed to wrestle power from the National Democratic Government (NDC) was unity. Mr Atasige expressed surprise about the latest unhealthy development within the party as it was alleged that some members were leaving to form their own party and described the situation as unfortunate.

He indicated that there was no other party that had a better ideology than the NPP and wondered why some members would move away to form their own party instead of focusing on the already matured party and work to strengthen it. Mr Atasige urged all party members to use the leadership structure of the party to address their grievances instead of trying to break away.

He appealed to party executives and supporters to redouble their efforts by working harder to get more people into the party, stressing that winning the election depended on numbers. Mr Atasige refuted allegation that there was disunity among the Executive Members of the Upper East branch and said though there were some differences during the campaign of the aspirants, they had patched up and were now working assiduously to win more seats for the party. He said Ghanaians had tasted both policies and programmes of the NPP and NDC governments and had seen the difference, adding that people had become desperate under the living conditions of the current government and would vote the NPP back to power.