Protecting me would've denied 'Darling Boy' Okyere Baafi an opportunity – Assibey-Yeboah

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Finance, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, has said he does not believe he should have been protected in the governing New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primaries held on Saturday, 20 June 2020, which resulted in his defeat.

Speaking after his defeat, the MP for New Juaben South in the Eastern Region said: “No one can impose himself as an MP”, adding: “The delegates decide”.

“This is not an entitlement”, he noted, indicating: “I like the way I’ve done my politics and I don’t think that if I continue, I’m going to change it”.

Asked if he thought he should have been protected by the party, Dr. Assibey-Yeboah said: “I don’t believe in protection”.

“I believe in competitive elections. What has happened in New Juaben is welcome because if I’ve been protected, then it means the party would’ve denied Michael Okyere Baafi, who is actually the ‘Darling Boy’ of the constituents now, the opportunity to go to Parliament”.

He rallied support for the Ghana Free Zones Board CEO.

“This is an internal fight; the best man won. Everybody should rally around him – Mr. Michael Okyere Baafi. I think we are one big family and the better candidate won this time round”, he said.

“The truth of the matter is that, this job we do is thankless and the more you sacrifice, the more people do not appreciate and, so, in truth, you’ll see that we’ll not have longevity in parliament ... and, so, I’m not surprised most of my colleagues are losing”, he told Abena Owusu Nyamekye on Accra-based Citi TV when asked about what he made of the defeat of many incumbents, including himself.