Early presidential primary helped cool tensions in NPP – Prof. Mike Oquaye

Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has attributed the reduction of tensions within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the early holding of the party's presidential primary. In an interview on Monday, 5 October, following the party's National Delegates Conference, Oquaye explained that the recommendation came from a committee he chaired to investigate the NPP's defeat in the 2024 general election.

The committee studied the challenges within the party and suggested an early presidential contest as part of their efforts to address these issues. "One thing that our committees immediately did was to recommend... that the presidential elections be held early," Oquaye stated in an interview on Super Morning Show.

Oquaye noted that the early presidential primary helped to calm the party atmosphere following the contest. "You can see that the moment that the election was held earlier... everything became cold," he added. The proposal initially faced criticism, with concerns raised about the sequence in which the party should conduct its internal elections.

However, Oquaye maintained that the committee had a clear rationale for proposing the early primary. "But we knew what we were doing," he affirmed. He further explained that the party's constitution allowed for this approach, based on the committee's interpretation of the existing provisions.

According to Oquaye, the easing of tensions within the NPP serves as evidence that the committee's recommendation was effective in helping the party address an internal challenge following its electoral loss.