Mahama quiet about PNC/CPP electoral agreement

Accra, May 14, GNA – Dr. Edward N. Mahama, flag bearer of the People's National Convention (PNC), on Wednesday refused to either confirm or deny
the alleged electoral agreement with Convention People's Party (CPP) to
contest the December presidential election on the same ticket.
"I will not say anything about the speculations ....At the appropriate
time the PNC and Dr Mahama will make our positions clear... I assure you that
it will not be too long," Dr Mahama told the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
Leading members of the CPP flag bearer's campaign team on Wednesday said the two parties (PNC and CPP) after a marathon meeting agreed to work together for the December polls.
According to them, a joint negotiating team of the two parties agreed that Dr. Nduom becomes the flag bearer with Dr Mahama as the running mate, as a step towards the unification of all Nkrumaits parties
The CPP officials said the two parties also agreed to contest the 230 parliamentary seats based on the strength of the party on the ground with candidates contesting the polls on his or her party's ticket but with support from the other party.
Dr Mahama, however, refused to confirm these agreements as announced by leading members of Dr Nduom's campaign team.
Unity talks between the two Nkrumaist parties collapsed in the past as all parties said they did not want to lose their identity - slogan, logo, and leadership positions.
Meanwhile Professor Nii Noi Dowuana, immediate past General Secretary of the CPP, classified the alleged agreement as a "rush decision," and cautioned the leadership of the two parties to tread steadily.
He therefore urged them to act constitutionally, follow due process in conformity with the electoral laws and the party's own constitutional procedure before going public.
Speaking to the GNA, Prof. Dowuana expressed concern about the rush to the media by members of the CPP to announce the agreement. "The CPP has procedures - the negotiating team should have gone back to inform the Central Committee.
"The negotiating teams have no mandate to unilaterally announce the agreement."
The former CPP General Secretary said after fulfilling the conditions the two parties would have issued a joint communiqué to announce the agreement.
"This is an election year and the current crop of leadership must guide against political naivety as we cannot afford to entangle our campaign with legal issues," Prof. Dowuana stated.
Dr Kwaku Osafo, a leading CPP member, described the electoral agreement as psychological weapon adopted by the parties to defuse the notion of divided Nkrumaists front.
"The clarion call of our members across the nation is that the Nkrumaists must present a unified front for this year's election or forget it. The electoral agreement is therefore to give our people what they have been yearning for," he told the GNA.
Mr Dan Lartey, leader of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), described the PNC/CPP electoral agreement as a joke, saying, "this is an electoral agreement for convenience just to portray what does not exist".
He told the GNA that Nkrumaist unity should not be cosmetic but, an agreement based on the fundamental principles of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana.
Mr. Lartey who initially led the crusade for Nkrumaist unity talks rejected any attempt to woo the GCPP back into the PNC/CPP electoral agreement.