A political analyst, Justice Siaw Mandela, has asserted that the delay by Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia in announcing his running mate for the 2024 presidential election is because of a conflict between who the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wants him to choose and the one he settled on.
He believes that, unlike President Akufo-Addo, who had the clout to defend and settle on Dr. Bawumia as his running mate despite tremendous resistance, the Vice President lacks the clout to make that decision.
The analyst claimed that Dr. Bawumia has settled on someone, but the party has rejected the individual, forcing him to settle on the choice of the party.
“In my opinion, the person Dr. Bawumia has chosen is not someone the party and certain senior officials favour. This is why the announcement has been postponed. When President Akufo-Addo chose Bawumia as his running mate, the majority of the party rejected him. However, due to Nana Addo’s command and clout at the time, he was able to keep him in place despite objections from the NPP. If a different candidate had run at the time, Bawumia would not be Vice President today. Maintaining Dr. Bawumia will require a strong candidate such as Nana Addo. However, Dr. Bawumia lacks the clout to select someone he favours.
It appears that he will be forced to choose someone the party prefers over the candidate he has chosen. That is exactly what is happening today. His chosen candidate is now in conflict with the party’s preferred candidate. It is clear that the party favours someone from the Ashanti region. It is one way of telling you that they would not let you choose who you want but someone the party wants,” he stated on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM’s Nyankonton Mu Nsem.
He said the delay in announcing his running mate portrays him as indecisive, which the opposition would exploit by making the NPP’s candidate appear incompetent.
“The delay will lead the opposition to characterise Dr. Bawumia as indecisive. He would be defined as a leader who is swayed to make decisions. Ghanaians are looking forward to who the running mate would be. It’s become a national issue. It is particularly significant since this is the first time the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) has conducted a survey to determine who the chosen running mate for a political party is. If there is a conflict over who will be the running mate, it will open the floodgates to major splits in the party.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
