Politics of Thursday, 9 November 2023

Source: peacefmonline.com

You ambush your election to favour one person but think you can criticize Bawumia? - Allotey Jacobs fires NDC

Former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs play videoFormer NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs

Bernard Allotey Jacobs has fired salvoes at the opposition National Democratic Congress for describing the over 60 percent votes for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the governing New Patriotic Party's presidential election as an "embarrassing vote of no confidence in his leadership".

The Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi says the result that the New Patriotic Party's flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, got in their just-ended election is a big shame.

According to an article authored by Sammy Gyamfi, "it is a big shame that, despite the unprecedented vote-buying and personal phone calls to delegates, a significant number of the NPP delegates totaling 74, 236 and constituting a whopping 39% voted against his candidature in the just-ended NPP primary. He was totally rejected in two regions (Central and Volta regions) and over 50 Constituencies of his own party".

He continued; "This makes him the first NPP flag-bearer to be elected by less than 62% of valid votes cast since the NPP expanded their electoral college in 2010. This is an embarrassing vote of no confidence in his leadership by almost 40% of delegates in his own party."

But to the former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Allotey Jacobs, Dr. Bawumia's 61 percent is impressive.

"Call it 61 percent; 61% can translate to 95 percent," he replied.

Allotey questioned the NDC's moral right to criticize Dr. Bawumia since, to him, the party manipulated their flagbearer election by making former President John Mahama the only candidate.

"You ambush, you stampede and manipulate your system to favour one person, then you come back and say that a clear case of true electoral process, someone gets 61 percent; you call it embarrassing. This is just a political rhetoric," he shot back while responding on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo".