The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, has given an assurance that the party's presidential candidate for the 2012 polls, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is open to all considerations as far as the choice of his running mate is concerned. According to the chairman, the flag bearer is not limiting himself, is open minded, is availing himself to all talents and that in a matter of weeks the name of the running mate would come out. There is less than a year to go for the 2012 elections and Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey told the Daily Graphic that the NPP was rolling out its year-long calendar of activities and nothing would stop it from working hard to win the polls. As a start-up, he insisted that the party would name its running mate within the first quarter of next year, according to the time-table of the party. The chairman declared that “nothing has changed” and that the party would strictly adhere to its calendar of activities planned for the 2012 elections. In an interview, he said in the first quarter of 2012, “our flag bearer will bring a nominee to the National Council, which is made up of the ruling body of the party, for consideration and approval”. Media reports are rife that the flag bearer is in the process of naming his running mate by the close of this year. This has led to many interest groups within the party rooting for their preferred choices, with others seeking for a north-south ticket or a south-south ticket for the presidential race. Indeed, some NPP groupings are calling on those scheming for a running mate for Nana Akufo-Addo to exercise restraint. Accordingly, they have expressed worry over the way some elders, youth groups and Members of Parliament in the party are conducting themselves in the debate over the choice of a running mate for the party. In their view, such schemers should exercise restraint and give Nana Akufo-Addo the chance to choose his running mate at the right time. Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said basically the flag bearer was looking for a competent running mate who would also not hurt the party's electoral attractiveness. On whether the flag bearer would choose a Muslim or Christian, Ga or Brong to partner him in the 2012 polls, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey explained, “I don’t think he has excluded anybody from who he is going to nominate to the National Council. We have to wait for that to come out. The flag bearer has been open to every consideration and he is considering all the pros and cons.” According to him, Nana Akufo-Addo was talking to all persons who are interested, but ultimately “the job of running a country needs competent persons”. He also told the Daily Graphic that balancing the presidential ticket was something the party was also considering. “We can balance the ticket with gender, regional, religious, complementarity. At the end of the day, we are looking for competence; somebody who can carry the load of national governance,” he stated. On the party's strategy for Election 2012, Mr Obetsebi Lamptey said it was operating within a time-table and it would take into consideration the climax of the election. He said among other things, that the party would monitor the biometric-registration exercise intensely, encourage its huge number of supporters to register and train its polling agents for the 2012 polls. The party, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey also said, would explain and educate people on how to register and have a voice in the governance of the country. He hinted that within the first quarter of 2012, the flag bearer would announce his vision for Ghana, as well as set out the major areas for the realisation of the vision. That would enable him to stay focused on issues throughout the course of the 2012 campaign, as well as help Ghanaians understand what the flag bearer and the NPP wanted to do for the nation. He said all those would be done prior to the launch of the party's manifesto, which would signal the final sprint of the 2012 campaign. Giving a foretaste of what pertained in the party's 2012 manifesto, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said the “big thing is that it is coming from the big vision of our flag bearer. Nana Akufo-Addo has, throughout his life, believed in the capacity of Ghanaians to manage their affairs and manage it well. That is why he dedicated himself to democracy, fought for the rule of law to prevail and champion Ghanaian enterprise”. He said since every facet of development hinged on the economy, Nana Akufo-Addo believed that “we must move the economy away from what he calls the 'Guggisburg Economy' to creating a new economy based upon local industry - agriculture, services, finance and industries.”