The New Patriotic Party's (NPP) National Council has agreed that the party's Congress to choose its flagbearer for the 2024 presidential elections will take place in November 2023.
The Council also resolved that in January 2024, the ruling party would hold its primaries to choose parliamentary candidates for the districts where it currently has representatives in office.
With 137 seats in the 8th Parliament, the party is represented. However, the NPP Caucus includes the independent MP for the Fomena Constituency, bringing the total number of members in the majority caucus to 138.
These definitive deadlines were established by the National Council at its meeting on December 23, 2022, at the Alisa Hotel.
On “orphan constituencies” (parliamentary seats occupied by the opposition), the National Council meeting could not decide on conclusive timelines, however, primaries to elect parliamentary candidates for such constituencies are largely expected to be held in April 2023.
With the exception of the Assin North Constituency seat, which is technically empty due to a Supreme Court injunction on the existing NDC MP preventing him from putting himself out as an MP, there are now 136 orphan constituencies. However, the High Court is still deliberating the matter.
Some NPP lawmakers pushed for the party's presidential and parliamentary (sitting MPs) primaries to occur simultaneously before the National Council meeting.
The National Council agreed that the parliamentary primaries for sitting MPs would take place in January 2024, 11 months before the general election, while the presidential primaries would take place in November 2023, 13 months before the 2024 elections.