Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy, an unsuccessful presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), has cautioned the party against cutting down the number of its presidential aspirants to two. He charged the party’s council of elders to be up and doing to ensure that the number does not exceed five. In an interview with Joy News on Monday, Arthur Kennedy conceded the 17 presidential aspirants, as was the case in the party’s primary in 2007, were too many and should not be entertained. He said the committee responsible for screening potential candidates should be given “strict guidelines” in deciding who is fit to run on the party’s ticket. “It is very difficult to fix a number, by the time you get to may be five it is getting too many, may be under five, that is fine; but I think when you come down to two, I think it is too narrow. It should be between two and five depending on the circumstances.” He also faulted former President Kufuor, opining that he (Mr Kufuor) “could have ensured that not more than two cabinet ministers were running” for the presidency. In the 2007 primary that elected Nana Akufo –Addo as NPP’s flag-bearer for the 2008 elections, one presidential hopeful, Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dartey (retd) was disqualified; a move Dr Kennedy believed was good and wished, “they could have weeded out quite a few more”. The NPP is scheduled for a historic congress in August 8 where some proposals, including amendments to the party's constitution and size of its electoral college, among others, are expected to be tabled for deliberation. It has been suggested that the electoral college should consist of about 115,000 people including all constituency executives and five polling station executives. Even though Dr Arthur Kennedy polled a surprise single vote in the party’s last presidential primary in 2007 at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon in Accra, he is still upbeat a about his presidential ambition. “Absolutely, I mean it depends, in another year I might be one of the first or one of the two,” he replied to a question on chances of him bouncing back into the presidential race. Meanwhile, a political scientist, Dr Kwesi Jonah, has counseled the party against reducing the number of presidential aspirants, a case he said would amount to “curtailing peoples’ right to political participation”. He said the NPP is harbouring an “erroneous impression” that the number that contested its primary caused its electoral defeat in 2008. Instead, the fellow of Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), suggested: “Set for your party the kind of qualification that would be very tough for people to meet.” Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com