Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, says the Council is engaging flagbearer aspirants in crucial talks to persuade some to withdraw from race, so the party can have a consensus candidate.

Ten individuals, including the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and former Trades Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, have all picked nomination forms to contest for the flagbearership position.

Chairman of the Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang believes the party’s interest will be better served if the aspirants could agree on what he calls a “consensus candidate.”

“We’ve pressed upon them what we call negotiation in political strategy, and if the strategy demands that some people must step down, I think in the interest of the party and its unity, it will not be out of place.”

“Even if after the electoral college, we keep talking as a fraternity, then we should be able to understand ourselves.”

“For my personal view, I think that if we can look at the issue of getting a consensus candidate it will help us tremendously,” he said.

Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang is one of the people who firmly believes that the NPP’s decision to allow as many as 17 people to contest for the flagbearership position ahead of the 2008 elections, was the reason the party lost that presidential election.

The party elder called that single decision a “major mistake.”

In a media interview in August 2021, he said ““[It was] in the year 2008 where we had 17 of our people in competition to be president. If at the time we had the understanding that it will not help us and the best thing to do was to have one or two compete for it, we would not have lost that election. That did not help us break that 8-year cycle that was beginning to establish itself. That was a major mistake.”

Meanwhile, the NPP says two persons have picked forms in a bid to represent the party as its candidate in the Assin North by-election.

The party’s Director of Elections, Evans Nimako made this known.

“Two people have picked up their nomination forms, we have Fredrick Amoah Kyei and Charles Opoku. Nominations have come to an end, the party’s committee chaired by the national first vice chairperson Mr. Danquah Smith will sit with the committee to conduct the vetting.”

“EC itself is tied with time because it must operate within 30 days, same as the party, so you realize from the corresponding issue by the General Secretary, it directed that as much as possible the constituency is ready.”

“The conduct of the exercise will be very swift so on Wednesday 7th of June the party will conduct the primary to select the candidate we’ll sponsor for the by-election,” he said.