story by Charles Takyi-Boadu.
Though talks between the National Executive Council of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen have not yet ended to determine whether or not the latter would rescind his earlier decision and stage a comeback to the party, there are, indications of intense lobbying for him to be made the Running Mate of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the party’s Flag bearer.
Party sources have hinted that handlers and supporters of ‘Alan Cash’, the man who resigned from the party a couple of weeks ago have started intense lobbying for him to be given the position of running mate to pacify the soul of the aggrieved defeated Presidential hopeful. Sources close to the NPP have told The Chronicle that this is what has compelled President Kufuor to wade into the affair, since they believe that the exit of Alan, considering the votes he polled at the party’s December congress, has a tendency of affecting its fortunes in the upcoming general elections.
The setting up of a committee to look into his concerns is thus considered an opportunity for Alan to give some conditions for the party’s consideration before he finally rescinds his decision. The lobbying for Alan begun during his supposed ‘thank you’ tour to parts of the Volta region, when some polling station executives in Sogakope, Ho and Hohoe rooted for him to be considered for the position. This, they said was in view of Alan’s overwhelming popularity and ability to attract votes, a quality that cuts across party lines.
Their reason was that this would boost the party’s chances of securing total victory in the 2008 presidential elections in view of his charisma, popularity and vote-winning qualities. For that matter, some of his supporters and handlers are said to have gone to the extent of pushing Alan to ask the leadership of the party to make him Nana Addo’s Running Mate, as a pre-condition for his comeback to the party.Meanwhile, big wigs in the party who the paper spoke to on condition of anonymity have discarded the suggestion, since in their opinions it would be more than a suicide mission for the party to make such a choice.
For them it would be a dangerous precedence and should not be considered. For having resigned from the party when efforts were made to address his concerns, they noted that Alan has proven not to be a thorough bred politician since according to them; he cannot withstand the tests of time. This is what the likes of party big wigs, B. J Da Rocha and Hackman Owusu Agyemang greatly detest and protest against; for an individual to hold the entire Dankwa-Busia tradition to ransom.
When news of Alan’s resignation broke, Hackman was one of the people who was accused of having frustrated the efforts of one of Alan’s supporters who was contesting him in the New Juaben constituency’s Parliamentary primary. Though he expressed regret at Alan’s decision to quit the party, he asked him to stop the blame game and leave the rest of them to work. He did not mince words when he said Alan’s resignation would not in anyway affect the chances of Nana Addo or the party in the upcoming elections.
Just last Friday, another old horse, Mr. B.J Da Rocha who was earlier tasked to mediate the process of bringing Alan Kyerematen back to the party after his infamous resignation, called off Alan’s bluff.For him, it would not only be bad but also a dangerous precedence for the NPP to allow any member to dictate to the party the terms on which he will continue to be a member. In a statement, Mr. Da Rocha noted “I think Mr. Kyerematen is bluffing the party.” For this reason, he asked the party not to tolerate such a bluff.
In his considered view, it would not be in the best interest of the NPP to receive Alan back into the party, since according to him “he will become a disruptive factor in the party, a stumbling block, a loose canon.”Mr. Da Rocha noted with surprise the statement issued by Alan for the reason that he had written to party Chairman, Peter Mac Manu resigning his membership.
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