As the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) prepares for yet another internal battle for the upcoming parliamentary primaries to elect parliamentary candidates for the 2012 elections, a founding member of the party has called for the retention of some of the MPs, who might have distinguished themselves during their tenure in the august house. Mr. George Ayisi Boateng contends that such a move would ensure consistency of performance in the legislative house, and also ensure that the party contributes effectively to the democratic development of the country. The NPP founding-member is also calling on the national hierarchy of the party to fashion out a mechanism to modify the existing mode of selection of parliamentary candidates in order to curtail the unfortunate incidents that characterized the 2008 elections. Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview, Mr. Ayisi Boateng noted that there was the need for the party to introduce some form of convention, notwithstanding the constitutional provision that calls for the conduct of primary elections in every constituency, so that the best crop of legislators would be maintained in the august house. He mentioned names like the MP for Suame and Minority Leader, Hon. Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Hon. Isaac Asiamah, Hon. Simmons Osei Mensah, Prof. Mike Oquaye, Ambrose Derry, Elizabeth Agyemang, Dominic Nitiwul and Frema Opare-Ansah. Others include Papa Owusu-Ankomah, O.B. Amoah, Attah Akyea and Dan Botwe, as some of the MPs that must be maintained in parliament. He indicated that it would be in the interest of the party to make sure that such important personalities continue to remain in the house to carry the flag of the NPP aloft. "This is not to say that NPP hasn't got the men and women to do the job, but extreme care must be taken not to throw out the best crop of materials to be replaced by mediocre ones as has happened to the NDC." He said the case of Abraham Osei Aidoo, the then Majority Leader, who unceremoniously lost his seat, must be a wake up call to the party. "The NPP need men and women of substance to carry the nation's agenda forward; we must listen to the voice of the people in the constituencies as to who they want to represent them in the legislative assembly, and not people who will always surface during elections and use money to buy their way through; we must maintain most of our sitting MPs who have distinguished themselves creditably," he emphasized. The NPP, therefore, proposed the institution of modalities that will create an entry barrier for unknown personalities who will infiltrate the constituencies during the period of the primaries. He noted that it behoves on the National, Regional and Constituency Executive Committees to work on such modalities, particularly in the Ashanti and Eastern Regions, where NPP lost some safe seats to independent candidates. Meanwhile, the NPP founding member has charged members of the intellectual wing of the party (TESCON) to redouble their efforts in mobilizing grassroots support for the party, ahead of the 2012 elections. Speaking at the fresher's induction ceremony of the University of Education Winneba (UEW), Mam pong Campus branch of the TESOCN, Mr. Ayisi Boateng said the students must gird their loins and rally behind the leaders of the party to ensure solid and formidable campaign. The Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer of the party, Gideon Boako charged members to develop what he called intellectual political think-tank to analyze and explain issues of national importance to voters at the grass root levels. The UEW President of TESCON, Turkson Cudjoe, said the country had seen sharp retrogression in its economic and social development since the taken over of administration by the NDC government, stressing that Ghanaians are crying for the return of the NPP. He said UEW-Mampong campus had begun serious membership drive to draw more support into the fold of the party. Turkson urged his fellow TESCON members to strive hard with zeal and strength and prove to the leadership of the party that TESCON can be counted upon anytime they are called to serve. Source: The Chronicle