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Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, says the leadership and party elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should have been smart enough by maintaining Nana Akufo-Addo as the flagbearer by issuing a fiat on its congress, in a bid to end the constant bickering and factionalism within the party. Mr. Ephson opines that the intense underground lobbying for control over delegates by elements within the Alan and Nana Addo bloc could have adverse effect in the NPP�s quest to wrestle power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). The internal strife which hit the NPP prior to its congress before the 2008 General Elections is considered by many as one of the factors that led to the party losing last year�s elections. The rift between party members of the opposition NPP was further widen following the 2007 Congress that elected Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo as the party�s flagbearer. This has generated lots of unnecessary interest and rekindled the rivalry between the camps with some media reports even claiming that one of the blocs is leading the other in the election of NPP Regional Executives. But pollster, Ben Ephson, who stopped short of declaring doom for the NPP, believes this is an unhealthy development which will strain efforts to forge a united front. Speaking in an interview on two Accra-based radio stations, PEACEFM and ADOMFM, Mr. Ephson pointed out that if the NPP really wants a go at the NDC in 2012, then given the bitterness between the two frontrunners (Nana Addo and Alan), selecting an outside candidate will bode well for the fortunes of the party. �If the NPP wants a chance to face the NDC in 2012, then some will argue that given the bitterness between the two factions, a different candidate outside the two will be preferable. But these two leading members must first decide to opt out of any contest�cause if you should hold any electoral analyses or electoral college�one of the two will come up tops�so the two of them will have to agree that the two factions are causing problems for the party�,� he averred. Asked if partnering the two will eventually end the hullabaloo, the renowned pollster strongly posited that any attempt to foist the two on the party by asking that Alan Kyeremanteng should be Nana Addo�s running mate will not augur well for the NPP. �I�ll be surprised because in 2007 when he was elected flagbearer and Nana Addo was asked to consider Alan as his running mate, he stated that there will be the strong perception that the NPP is an Akan party. But the question is, has Alan�s ethnic background changed? No. The reason he gave in the run-up to the selection of his running mate is still valid. Some people will say that it�s for political convenience. That�s why if the party accepts their partnership, floating voters will say it is not a genuine partnership� and problems will arise in the administration of governance,� he stated.