Afenyo-Markin: We Can’t Rely On Only Ashanti Region Votes

Alexander Afenyo-Markin, MP for the Effutu Constituency in the Central and the Majority Leader in Parliament has called for an enhanced intra-party unity in the region to ensure the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wins a minimum of 16 parliamentary seats from the Central Region and the Party’s presidential candidate, Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia, wins the popular votes as well.

He said it would be suicidal for NPP parliamentary candidates  in the Central Region to sit back and assume that the party would win big in other parts of the country so there is no need to work extra hard.

Afenyo-Markin said rather, there is the need for all parliamentary candidates to make it their personal responsibilities to ensure they win their seats and the NPP wins the presidential as well.

“We cannot sit back and say we are waiting for the Ashanti Region votes to win the presidential race, no! We as parliamentary candidates must all work extra hard to win and win big in our respective constituencies and electoral areas and ensure that our presidential candidate also wins in our areas. The Central Region must ensure we rake in the votes to win this election on December 7”, Afenyo-Markin noted while addressing parliamentary candidates and constituency offices of the NPP in the Central Region at a forum held in Winneba Sunday morning.

Afenyo-Markin continued: “We cannot have constituency executives and party officers being at loggerheads with our parliamentary candidates in the Region and we cannot play lazy as parliamentary candidates and lose the elections so that on the D day, we are calling other constituencies to ask if they won their seats and if Dr. Bawumia has won there as well. We must all win and win together as one big party and this is possible.”

The Majority Leader said three different research polls suggest the NPP is winning a minimum of 16 parliamentary seats from the Central Region but this can be achieved only by hard work and a united front.

NDC HAS NO MESSAGE

Afenyo-Markin said the NDC  does not have a superior campaign message but the party has decided to  use propaganda and lies to deceive the electorate

He said it is strange that the NDC questions the relevance of the Free SHS policy as though they have forgotten the essence of an educated society.

“All they say is times are hard so vote for them. It is true times are hard but let us throw back the question to them and ask if things were not hard when they were in power. This is not the time for any party officer to feel timid or shy to debate on issues pound for pound using facts and figures.

“It is time to challenge their lies and tell the good achievements of the NPP”

NPP STILL MAJORITY

Afenyo-Markin said the recent attempt by the NDC to claim Majority in parliament was a well planned political strategy to create a certain perception in the minds of the voters so as to win the December 7 elections.

He explained:

“The concert they did in Parliament recently did not just happen by accident; it was well planned and it was for a purpose.  Out of their own research, they know the NPP is winning 155 seats minimum and their consultant had told them  to create a certain psychological victory in Parliament  to create an impression they have the Majority.

“They knew what exactly they were doing and it was all a part of the politics that if they have the Majority in Parliament, Ghanaians would as well vote for them. They knew what they were doing that was why we fought them all the way to the Supreme Court to restore the NPP Majority

“Can you imagine if we had left them to insist they are the Majority, the type of signals they would have sent across the constituencies? In fact barely five minutes after Alban Bagbin said they were the Majority, John Mahama was talking about it in the campaign platform that they were the Majority”

HAWA KOOMSON

Mavis Hawa Koomson, Minister for Fisheries and MP for Awutu Senya  East, in her address at the event, spoke about the need to embark on a retail campaign and target the individual voter.

“Let us not repeat the mistakes of 2008 else we would regret. I plead with all constituency executives and candidates to unite and be proud of our party else we would be embarrassed.

“Each constituency represented here should decide to be part of the majority seats we are winning in this Region”, Hawa Koomson added.