PPP Begins Unity Talks With CPP, PNC

The Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) has begun talks with the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC) for a possible merger. The PPP which broke away from the CPP after its leader, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom was accused of creating disunity in the party is hoping to unite all Nkrumahist parties ahead of the 2016 general elections. This comes after the PNC also suspended its early congress to conclude its unity talks with the CPP. The CPP, PNC merger which has been on the drawing board since 2008, is yet to come into fruition. The CPP, a centre-left party, formed by Ghana�s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah has performed abysmally in elections since the advent of the fourth republic. PNC, an off-shoot of the CPP led by Dr. Hilla Limann won the 1979 election but his administration was curtailed on December 31, 1981 coup orchestrated by ex-president Jerry John Rawlings. Since then the two parties have remained in opposition. Their performance in the 2012 elections is nothing to write home about. Both the PNC and CPP now have one representative in Parliament. But Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond who disclosed the merger talks to CitiNews said the only cure the poor performance in elections is unity. According to him, a unified front is the only panacea to unseat the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2016. He indicated that both the NDC and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have failed to meet the aspirations of Ghanaians and thus until the all the Nkrumahist parties unite, the two political parties will continue to dominate. Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond stated that PPP is hopeful of a positive outcome before 2016.