The Upper West Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised red flags over the presence of the portrait of Mr. Paschal B. Dere on the parliamentary ballot paper for the Lawra constituency. At a press conference organized by the party in Wa and read by the Regional Secretary, Eric Dakurah, they expressed surprise at the return of the candidate, claiming Mr. Paschal B. Dere had withdrawn his nomination as a parliamentary candidate. Mr. Paschal B. Dere contested against the Lawra District Chief Executive, Abu Samson in the NDC primaries and lost in October. He decided to stand as an independent candidate but was prevailed upon by the party elders to rescind his decision. ‘‘As a party our interest is that Mr. Paschal B, Dere is a member of the NDC and is fervently campaigning in the constituency for the presidential and parliamentary candidates. Our fear is that if the name and portrait of Paschal B. Dere is not removed, it could confuse our voters particularly our members, supporters and sympathizers which could negatively affect the fortunes of our parliamentary candidate,’’ they added. Based on the aforementioned, the party suggested to the Electoral Commission to print new ballot papers for the Lawra constituency as a matter of urgency. In the same breath, the EC could consider any vote for Mr. Paschal Dere as an NDC vote and count same in favor of the NDC parliamentary candidate, Abu Samson, stated. They also suggested to the EC to tear off the portrait of candidate from the ballot paper before it is issued to prospective voters. This the NDC believes will forestall any likely confusion on election day owing to the presence of Mr. Paschal .B. Dere on the ballot paper. The NDC Upper West secretariat said they have lot of confidence in the EC based on its track record and believes the elections will also be free, fair and transparent. They commended the party’s leadership and the President for the numerous developmental projects undertaken in the country and appealed to Ghanaians to vote massively to retain John Dramani Mahama as president and all NDC parliamentary candidates for development, peace and stability. Attempts to speak to the Upper West regional director of the EC, Mr. Yahya Mahama on the issue proved futile as he told Joynews he would not comment on the issue for now.