Sam George, Ningo-Prampram MP, has dismissed assertions that he was not the favourite of the bigwigs within the opposition National Democratic Congress in the just ended Parliamentary Primaries.
Sam George beat his closest contender, Micheal Tetteh by 7 votes to lead the party for the second consecutive time as the MP aspirant in the 2020 elections.
Ahead of the elections, there were several stories about a deliberate plan to unseat the incumbent Ningo-Prampram MP by some leading members of the party, particularly, the former MP for the area, ET Mensah as well as Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Party, Ade Cooker.
However, rubbishing such information in an interview on Joy FM Monday morning, Sam George submitted that he wasn’t perturbed by such news claiming that there were many party executives and leading figures who threw their weight behind him.
In the interview, the Ningo-Prampram MP mentioned, “I think that that is the wrong assumption. For those of us in there, I think that the majority are happy with the work that I have done. There is what we call the silent majority. There may be one or two people that may have issues and legitimately that is their right, I cannot begrudge them.”
“This election has reinforced it in my mind that majority of the elders of our party are happy with the work I have done in representing our party and the constituents and the work I do for the party. And so it is not correct to assume that a lot of the elders do not like me. A lot of them do like me, a lot of them stuck their neck out for me in this election,” he stressed.
The first-time MP also downplayed the suggestions of division and infighting that is believed to have characterised the party before and during the party explaining that the tension that was witnessed is normal in every competitive exercise.
He assured that all players in the just ended elections will work together to bring the NDC back into power in 2020 in addition to widening the gap between the party and its greatest opposition, the governing NPP’s candidate.
Sam George averred, “my party in Ningo-Prampram is solid at this point in time with one vision – increasing the vote margin from 11, 000 as we did in 2016 to 20, 000 in 2020. The party could be divided when you have the internal election because you have two people within the party, or two people within the same party or three people or 4 people within the same party contesting for a single slot so you will definitely see divisions along those lines. When it comes to the NDC in Ningo-Prampram against whoever the NPP is going to elect, there is no division. There is just one sense of purpose, defeating the NPP. For me, the talk about unity, unity, unity is misplaced.”
On Saturday, a total of 524 candidates contested the internal polls in 157 constituencies out of 275 to represent the largest opposition party in Parliament in the next general elections.
The party suspended elections in the Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti region, Yilo Krobo in the Eastern region, Mpohor (Western region), Ellembelle and Fanteakwa North Constituencies.