Who Will They Back?

Asks Edmund Mingle
Thursday, 11 December 2008

As the presidential election enters a second round, the question needing an answer is which of the smaller parties would back the two main parties that were left standing after last Sunday’s poll.
Some of the parties, like the CPP, claim they would not support any party, but others are yet to decide.
The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) says it is yet to decide which of the two parties to support in the second round of elections.
The party’s presidential candidate, Emmanuel Ansah-Antwi, told the Times yesterday that the decision as to which direction they would go would have to be taken by the National Executive Committee of the party.
He said the decision whether to back the NDC or NPP would depend on which of the two buys into the DFP’s message of green revolution, technological advancement and rural development.
Mr. Ansah-Antwi said the DFP, which is a breakaway group from the NDC, the largest opposition party, was impressed about its performance at the poll considering the fact that it was only two years old and did not have resources to campaign on a high scale nationally.
“The results show that the DFP is a broad based party because we had votes from across the country,” he said.
Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, the only Independent presidential candidate, says he would not ask his supporters to vote for any particular party in the run-off.
“Ghanaians have the ability to choose which party to vote for as they demonstrated in the first round. It’s important to allow the electorate the free hand to decide for themselves their leader.
Speaking on an Accra-based FM, Mr. Amoafo-Yeboah, who garnered a total of about 11,400 votes, thanked Ghanaians for the support.
“I am ready to serve my country in any capacity,” he said, and urged Ghanaians to accept the results of the poll to ensure peace.
Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), who conceded an early defeat on Monday, says he is not supporting any of the two parties.
He said because of his belief in all inclusive government, he cannot lend his support to any particular party.
He explained that all the parties went into the race based on their ideologies and vision for the country, so no party can support the other.
According to him, declaring his backing for any party would risk his being accused of selling out the CPP the members have struggled to rebuild.
He believes that Ghanaians made their wishes known in the first round and should be allowed to go to the polls again with an independent mind.
Benard Monard, General Secretary of the PNC told the Times that the party would be calling an emergency NEC meeting to decide which way to go.
“It has to be a collective decision,” he said.
For Thomas Ward-Brew of the DPP, the decision is yet to be taken.
He told an Accra-based FM yesterday that he would consult his executives on the matter for a common decision to be taken.
Out of the 8,465,834 total valid vote cast the CPP occupies a distance third spot with 113,494 votes representing 1.34 per cent.
The People’s National Convention’s (PNC) Dr Edward Nasigrie Mahama is planted on the fourth spot with 73,494 votes, representing 0.87 per cent.
The DFP is fifth with 27,889 votes, representing 0.33 per cent and Mr Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, Independent Presidential Candidate, occupies the sixth spot with 19,342 votes representing 0.23 per cent.
The DPP occupies the seventh position with 8,653 votes, representing 0.10 per cent and Mr Kwabena Adjei of the Reformed Patriotic Democrats is eighth with 6,889 votes, representing 0.08 per cent.
The total rejected ballots of 205,438 (2.4%), was more that the vote gained by each of the small parties.