By William Yaw Owusu
Friday May 23, 2008
The Convention Peoples Party, CPP has denied any wrongdoing as far as the collapse of the alliance between them and the Peoples'national Convention, PNC is concerned.
The failure of the coming together of two Nkrumalist family parties to form an alliance to contest this years election, reached a crescendo yeseterday when the PNC led by itsflag-bearer Dr. Edward Mahama announced yesterday that they were pulling out of the the deal.
Dr. Mahama accused the CPP leadership especially its flag-bearer, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom of hastening to announce the deal after the meeting last Tuesday, when both parties were yet to agree on the modalities.
David Ampofo, Head of Communications of the Dr.Nduom Campaign Team for the CPP said disagreed with the PNC saying 'the CPP acted in good faith. We feel
From the first day of the announcement, it was clear that what was initially hailed by political analysts as a step forward for the sustenance of an Nkrumalist unity appeared not to have been whole heartedly accepted by some believers of Nkrumalism especially from the camp of the PNC.
The suspicion was confirmed when some leaders of the PNC expressed concern about the haste with which the CPP announced the deal.
Without denying the fact that there was such a pact they contended that even before the appropriate organs of the parties could be informed, the CPP was out there announcing the deal.
Before the meeting last Tuesday at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra, the two parties agreed to send 10 members each to do a mini election to select a flag-bearer to lead the alliance in the December election while the loser becomes a running-mate.
When the voting exercise was conducted, the CPP candidate, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, had 11 votes whiles Dr Edward Mahama had 9 votes “meaning one of us voted for the CPP but it was a secret ballot so you can’t do nothing”.
The PNC said at the meeting it was the CPP chairman who even stood up and said that the decision taken by the two sides should remain a secret until the formal outdooring some members within the CPP for reasons best known to them rushed to announce it to the media barely 24 hours..
They said that it was the CPP that has betrayed the PNC in a similar alliance in the past and that a careful look must be taken at this whole alliance issue, pointing out that the PNC is capable of winning power on its own.
“To the PNC, the announcement was pre-mature as the modalities for forming an electoral agreement with the CPP will have to be deliberated upon by the NEC before PNC’s position would be announced to the world.
They also agreed that in the constituencies where either party has a comparative advantage, the other will not field a Parliamentary candidate.
Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, Chairman of the PNC in an interview after thepress conference said 'we are not angry.We are only telling the whole world what happened at the meeting.'
'We are not against the idea of an alliance. We are just deciding to go out of it for now. We might consider it another time.'
When the Times spoke to the two flag-bearers onMay 14, qday after the meeting, Dr Nduom of the CPP who was forthcoming had said the details of the alliance was being worked out.
However, his counterpart Dr Mahama had declined to comment further by saying “I will make a formal statement at the appropriate time”.
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