Throwing the baby away with the bathwater: dynamics of intra-party wrangling and “primary penalty” in Ghanaian politics

The study examined how deep-seated intra-party conflict could lead to a “back-stabbing” posturing as well as the machinations deployed by sore losers to undermine their own political party. Using the case of Ghana and the 2020 Parliamentary elections, the study adopted a case study design. Two cases where a political party in power suffered “primary penalty” in parliamentary election were purposively selected for the study. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) were the main instruments. The study observes: (1) fractures in party occur from varying triggers; (2) faultline unresolved properly deepens into deep gulleys and “landsliding (A concept borrowed from physical geography which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock under the influence of gravity which usually may occur when cracks occur within the rocks.)” tendencies (3) and collective goals of winning inter-party elections may be sacrificed just to settle internal political scores. We conclude that although it serves as a very useful avenue for enriching and demonstrating democratic maturity of political parties, intra-party primaries when not handled well becomes an avenue for developing factions and cracks within political parties where ultimate goals are sacrificed for personal and sectional interest. At the macro (party level), the study contends that internal party contest/election needs to be managed with free and fair processes and tactful leadership as well as diplomacy to ensure ensuing factions are managed effectively.