The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken a giant step towards a very significant activity in the calendar of the party in January 2026, with the picking of forms and filing of nominations for its congress next year to elect a flagbearer to lead the party into the 2028 General Elections.
Indeed, the party headquarters is full of activities as the aspirants throng the place with their loyalists to either pick forms or to file their nominations for what looks like a grand presidential primaries just five months away.
Political scientists have predicted with circumstantial evidence that for many years to come, Ghana’s political landscape will continue to be shaped by the two major political parties: The New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
And indeed, since 1993, power has been alternating between these two major parties. Other smaller parties have either remained dwarfed or been swallowed by these giant parties.
It is on this basis of the prediction by political scientists that the NPP will bounce back to power in the near future, but that certainly rests with the electorates.
It is our conviction that while in opposition, the NPP remains a formidable party in our democratic dispensation. Opposition must remain resolute to constitute a formidable check on government business by scrutinising and critiquing government policies and proffering viable alternatives towards transparent, accountable governance and citizen engagement.
So, what makes NPP a viable alternative to the ruling government and likely to come back to power?
Nobody will tell the NPP that it let power slip from its hands as a result of its own actions and inactions while in power. We cannot recount them here!
Of course, leadership of the party has been preaching unity and reconciliation where wounds have been inflicted, and the need to avoid divisive tendencies that are likely to put the party in bad light in the face of the public.
The campaign for the NPP flagbearer race has not heated up, though it is gathering momentum, as the aspirants continue with their engagement. The lead up to the campaign in our opinion, does not look good for our democratic development.
We at The Ghanaian Times are worried that we are not seeing different and new approaches to the race.
We are worried that so far what some of the aspirants are churching out, are not issue-based messages, but setting the stage for war of words rather than a market place of ideas. Issues bordering on religious bigotry, ethnicity and bankrolling do not resonate with electorates, but rather have the tendency to foment division, hatred and instability.
Certainly, what party followers and the electorates are looking forward to from aspirants is their vision—what they will do differently to resonate with the electorates to get their nod to lead the party.
The Ghanaian Times wishes the aspirant good luck as they engage the electorates with their vision on what they have to offer the country, for them to make an informed choice.
Our democracy has come a long way, and multi-party democracy is good for us because we wholeheartedly opted for it. So, all must go well with the party, especially over the next five months leading up to the presidential primaries next January, which is not far away.