10 NDC Aspirants Disqualified

More than 10 people out of those who filed their nominations to contest in the primaries in the orphaned constituencies of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been disqualified. A Deputy General Secretary of the party, Mr George Lawson, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, however failed to disclosed the names of those who have been disqualified and their constituencies. The party has also directed the Tano South Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region to open fresh nomination since all the aspirants did not follow laid down regulations. He explained that varied reasons were used to disqualify the affected persons. The reasons included false documentations, criminal background as well as the failure of the affected aspirants to satisfy the requirements provided for the filing if the nominations. Mr Lawson said the party would soon make known its decision to the executives of the various regions and those who filed their nominations before going public with the list of successful aspirants. The party is to hold primaries in the northern sector which comprises of Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions on November 19, 2011, and that of the southern sector, which is made up of the Greater Accra, Eastern, Volta, Central and the Western regions, on November 26, 2011. Two hundred and ninety-seven members of the party applied to vie for 114 orphaned parliamentary slots throughout the country. The orphaned constituencies are those where the party failed to win in the 2008 elections. Currently the NDC has 116 seats in the 230-member Parliament while the New Patriotic Party has 107. The People�s National Convention (PNC) has two; Convention People�s Party (CPP) has only one seat and four seats are held by independent members. On the regional basis, the Ashanti Region recorded 80 applicants which is the highest number of applicants, followed by Eastern, 48; Brong Ahafo, 37; Greater Accra, 37; Western, 27; Northern, 16; Upper East, 15; Upper West, 3 and Volta, 2.