NEW EDUBIASE MOCK ELECTION STOPPED (PAGE 1, MARCH 26, 2010)

THE Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr F.F. Anto, has stopped a mock election in the New Edubiase Constituency to test the popularity of Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr Alan Kyerematen as possible presidential candidates of the party.
Indeed, the process was ongoing when word reached the regional secretariat of the party.
The exercise was organised by the constituency executive of the party under the chairmanship of Mr Prince Boahen.
“I had to go in to stop it because the exercise was unnecessary,” Mr Anto told the Daily Graphic.
“It would not have served the party’s interest in any way and I think it was a useless venture,” Mr Anto said.
According to him, word reached him in the afternoon of last Wednesday that the exercise was underway in the constituency.
“I called the constituency chairman and questioned him about the exercise and his explanation showed they did it out of ignorance,” Mr Anto said.
Asked whether any party big shot was behind the exercise, Mr Anto said, “I don’t think so.”
“I don’t think either Alan or Nana Addo had something to do with it. “We do mock examinations and not mock elections especially at this period when no one has officially come out to declare his candidature,” he stressed.
Mr Anto cautioned party members against acts that would derail their forward match towards victory in 2012, saying, “I think we have to be careful about the way we handle some of these issues because they can create problems for us.”
The regional chairman pointed out that the result the constituency executives would have got would not have helped the party in any way.
He stated that the constituency chairman was very apologetic when he spoke with him.
“The constituency chairman is a gentleman and I believe he did that out of ignorance,” he said.
New Edubiase is one of the three constituencies in the Ashanti Region that the NPP lost in the 2008 elections.
The regional chairman said, “We are working hard to win the constituency in 2012 and that is what we have to concentrate on rather than thinking about the popularity of someone or another in the area.”
He expressed the hope that the constituency executive would channel its energies towards defeating the NDC in the constituency.