ASARE-LARTEY EYES EASTERN REGION NPP CHAIRMANSHIP (PAGE 14, OCT 31)

A FOUNDER member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kofi Asare-Lartey, has decided to contest the Eastern Regional chairmanship of the party.
Mr Asare-Lartey, who is the incumbent NPP Chairman for the Fanteakwa Constituency, had since 1992 been a member of the constituency executive.
He made his intention known in an interview in Koforidua last Wednesday and said he had decided to assume the regional chairmanship position to unite the rank and file of the party in the region and mobilise the people to rally behind the NPP for a resounding victory in the 2012 general election.
He said although the Eastern Region had been a strong base of the NPP where it obtained 70 per cent of the presidential votes in the 2000 elections, it registered only 56 per cent of the presidential votes in the 2008 elections, adding that that must be reversed.
According to Mr Asare-Lartey, that could only be accomplished with unity, dedication and commitment on the part of the rank and file of the party in the region, adding that his long experience as a constituency executive had positioned him well to lead the party in the region for a resounding victory at the 2012 polls.
In an answer to a question as to what he would do to ensure victory at the 2012 polls, he said he would actively involve all the five polling station executives in every polling station and the party’s electoral co-ordinators to spread the good messages of the party to increase its support base.
He also pledged to support and help resource the party’s foot soldiers to penetrate the communities to drum home the need to bring back the NPP to continue with its good policies which were jettisoned when the party lost the 2008 elections.
He added that the party already had the region as its stronghold, saying that the only thing to do was to increase its presidential votes to clinch victory.
“The region, like Ashanti, is a stronghold of the party and we won almost all the parliamentary seats in past elections. Our only problem is to increase the presidential votes to enable whoever is elected the flag bearer to be victorious in the 2012 elections,” Mr Asare-Lartey stated.
Mr Asare-Lartey called on all members and supporters of the NPP in the region to give him the mandate to lead the NPP.