Consider Unity Of Party — Ntim

A former First Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Stephen Ayesu Ntim, has urged all aspiring presidential candidates to consider the unity of the party as supreme to their presidential ambitions.

He said as members of one family, they should be more united after every contest in order to win the next general election, and not to allow personal differences to divide their ranks.

Mr Ntim, who vied for the position of national chairman of the party in the 2005 national congress and lost to Mr Peter Mac Manu, admonished the aspirants to be guided by the bitter experience the party learnt during the electioneering prior to the Third Republic elections, when misunderstanding led to fragmentation and the subsequent lost of the elections.

He was speaking at a get-together for a cross-section of the media to commend them for their support during his bid for the chairmanship of the party .

Mr Ntim said now that the congress was over, it would be improper for members to indulge in pointing accusing fingers at each other, adding that what the party needed was a united and focused membership, who would render their unflinching support to ensure a resounding victory for the party in the 2008 elections.

“I still stand by the pledge I made after the congress that I remain an NPP member and ready to serve in any capacity that I would be asked to play for the good of the party,” he added.

He noted that last year's congress to elect national executives was not about personalities, but about the choice of the delegates to elect people who could steer the affairs of the party for the next four years, especially to win the 2008 elections.

Mr Ntim noted that when the delegates who represented the millions of NPP supporters and sympathisers had taken a decision, it was final and that as a democrat the best thing to do was to respect the verdict of the delegates.

He advised the media not to create confusion among the various candidates who would contest the presidential primary in order not to engender antagonism even after the congress.

He said the media should also not downplay and denigrate the integrity of other candidates to create public disaffection against them.