No skirt and blouse - Nana Akufo-Addo urges supporters
WITH just four more days for the December 7 general elections, the presidential candidate of the c, Nana Akufo-Addo last Sunday strongly cautioned against some supporters' decision to vote 'Skirt and Blouse," describing such a decision as "cruel and a road to defeat of the NPP'.
He has also warned independent candidates who are using his name to campaign for their own votes to put a stop to that since he will have nothing to do with independent candidates who have gone contrary to the ethics of the party.
'I do not recognise any independent parliamentary candidate, what I do recognise are those standing on the tickets of this great party.
And if you allow yourselves to be deceived by these people that I am in tune with them, then you do so at your own peril.'
'Skirt and Blouse' voting occurs when a voter chooses as presidential candidate from one party and a parliamentary candidate from a different party.
Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP was in the process of breaking the country's electoral record by handing power from a government formed by the governing party to another candidate on the same ticket after the first president's term expires, and voting for different presidential and parliamentary candidates could derail that ambition.
He observed that it was very crucial for aggrieved supporters to put behind them all petty squabbles and renew the mandate of the NPP government by ensuring a massive 'One Touch' victory in both the presidential and parliamentary elections to ensure the forward movement of the nation.
Addressing a mammoth rally at the Jubilee Park in Kumasi, Nana Akufo-Addo stressed: 'To vote against the parliamentary candidates of this party will not only make the work of the president extremely difficult but will also draw back the progress of the nation
It is indeed essential for the next NPP government to have a full list of NPP parliamentarians to complement my dream of moving the nation into a state of accelerated development.'
He reiterated the call on supporters to be careful with those seeking to create confusion in the country, urging them to exercise restraint and work to sustain the unity, stability and cohesion.
'What Ghanaians want is politics of unity, solidarity and reconciliation but not politics of deceit, national disintegration and tribal politics.
We do not want to go backward in our history where people were intimidated for expressing their views, where bloodshed, injustice and imprisonment were the order of the day; we need to move forward as a nation'.
An Akufo-Addo government would continue to safeguard the respect and integrity of the nation by strengthening democracy, rule of law, good governance, justice and national cohesion while empowering all allied agencies and institutions to become autonomous without any political interference, he pledged.
The NPP flag bearer urged the youth to resist offers from people whose interest are to cause mayhem, destruction and to serve their own self-centered political ends, saying 'You must never allow yourselves to be used to perpetrate any act of violence, before, during or after Sunday's elections.'
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, said a solid socio-economic foundation had been laid by the Kufuor administration and the next NPP administration would build upon it to create wealth.
He pointed out that an industrial revolution was the next phase in the country's development and he would lead the country to pursue it when elected.
President John Agyekum Kufuor, whose term ends at 12 midnight on January 6th 2009, promised the nation a peaceful and incident-free election as all adequate security arrangements had been made for smooth polls on Sunday.
President Kufuor was optimistic that the NPP would score a historic electoral victory considering the growing popularity of the party especially among those in the northern part of the country.
He expressed appreciation to members, activists, and supporters for their prayers, support and loyalty during the past eight years that enabled his administration to chalk record successes. He appealed to Ghanaians to protect the success by renewing the mandate of the NPP on Sunday.He encouraged the electorate, especially the youth to stand firm and not yield to falsehood and lies by the party's opponents and called on all party members and supporters to come out in their numbers to vote massively for the NPP's presidential and parliamentary candidates.