Ghc30,000 for NPP MP seat?

The nomination fee for candidates seeking to contest the upcoming parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been pegged at Ghc30,000, The Finder has gathered.

Information gathered by The Finder indicates that the decision was reached at during the party’s National Executive Committee meeting held yesterday.

According to sources close to the party, nominations for the parliamentary primaries will be opened on March 26, 2015 and closed eight days after.

The election is expected to be held on May 31, 2015.

The concern of many in the party seeking to contest sitting parliamentarians has been the fact that sitting MPs would have an advantage over them due to the limited time for campaigning for the primaries.

Political analysts have also described the upcoming parliamentary primaries as one that will further put the democratic credentials of the party to test considering the acrimonies that followed the party’s recent National Delegates’ Congress that ushered in a new crop of executives.

The current Chairman and General Secretary of the party have, since assumption of office, faced stiff opposition from some members of the party over some key decisions they made in their first few months in office.

The NPP General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, subsequent to his appointment, ordered the party’s Deputy Communications Director, Perry Okudzeto, and the Finance Director, Mr Opare Hammond, to proceed on compulsory leave.

Subsequently, an attempt by the new executives to change security guards at the party’s National Head Office in Accra almost ended in a bloodbath.

Thereafter, the new leadership has been working at uniting the party around a common goal of winning the 2016 general elections.

But there are many who believe that the outcome of the parliamentary primaries will serve as a litmus test for the level of seriousness the party and its leadership attach to winning the 2016 election.

Already, there has been a strong proposal for the party to help sitting MPs to retain their seats, by disallowing any member of the party to contest them.

Their reason has been that the move will help maintain party unity ahead of the 2016 general elections and also help reserve financial resources that will be needed to resource the campaign machinery of the party for the general elections.