Making Flagbearer Party Leader Will Weaken Internal Democracy – PNC Warns NPP
By Dominic Duut | Noblenews
The People’s National Convention (PNC) has cautioned the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against amending its constitution to make its presidential candidate the automatic leader of the party when it is in opposition.
The PNC said such an arrangement could weaken the NPP’s internal democracy and limit opportunities for new leadership to emerge.
Delivering a solidarity message at the NPP’s National Delegates Conference in Kumasi on Saturday, October 3, the PNC said it was raising the concern as a friend of the party and not as an attempt to interfere in its internal affairs.
“Reports have reached us that this conference may consider amending the party’s constitution so that the flagbearer becomes the leader of the party even when the party is in opposition,” the PNC stated.
The party urged NPP delegates to carefully consider the proposal, arguing that the roles of a presidential candidate and a party leader are fundamentally different.
“A flagbearer carries the party’s banner in election, a party leader must build structures, reconcile factions, and hold the party accountable between elections,” it noted.
It warned that concentrating both responsibilities in one person could have implications for the party’s internal structures.
“Concentrating both roles in one person risks weakening internal democracy and the space for new leadership to emerge,” the PNC added.
The PNC stressed that its position was being offered in the spirit of political fraternity: “We say this in the spirit of fraternity, not in interference”.
The proposed amendment is among the constitutional changes being considered by NPP delegates.
The NPP had introduced a clause at its January 31 conference stating that the National Chairman would be the leader of the party at all material times, but the latest proposal seeks to revisit that arrangement and designate the flagbearer as its leader.
However, the NPP has postponed consideration of all proposed constitutional amendments, including the proposal on party leadership, to its next national conference, citing time constraints at the ongoing conference at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
