The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says party members holding public office who intend to contest internal positions must resign within specified timelines as part of its internal electoral guidelines.
Acting Director of Elections and Information Technology for the National Democratic Congress, Mahdi Jibril, explained that the directive is aimed at ensuring fairness and effective participation in the party’s ongoing restructuring process.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Tuesday, June 2, he said the rule applies to appointees such as ministers, CEOs, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, and other senior officeholders seeking to contest constituency, regional, or national positions.
He said those affected are expected to vacate their positions ahead of the internal elections to allow them to fully engage in party activities.
“If you are holding a position and you want to take a party position, resign your position,” he stated.
Mahdi Jibril added that while earlier discussions within the party did not initially include all categories of positions, consensus was later reached on how the resignation requirement should be implemented across the various levels of internal elections.
He noted that the directive does not affect branch-level elections, but begins from the constituency level upwards, where most appointees are expected to contest.
He further explained that regional ministers are among those required to resign if they choose to contest internal party positions.
However, he said the implementation timeline for resignations has been staggered, with constituency-level aspirants expected to resign by the end of April, regional aspirants by the end of May, and national-level aspirants by the end of June.
According to him, the decision followed deliberations within the party’s National Executive Committee, which initially rejected and later reviewed proposals on resignation timelines before agreeing on a structured approach.
Mahdi Jibril also revealed that one senior official has already resigned from a public appointment to contest a regional chairmanship position.
He said the move reflects the party’s effort to balance governance responsibilities with internal democratic competition as it prepares for its nationwide internal elections.
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