Founder member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr A. Appiah-Menka, has narrowed the number of people to partner Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the party's flag-bearer in the December polls to three. Although he would not disclose the names of those personalities, he said "I will so advise him about the three in the same manner as Nana Akufo-Addo is collecting views to disclose his candidate to the party and the nation". He, however, advised Nana Akufo-Addo to look at three requirements in selecting his running mate. He named the criteria as compatibility, respect, competence and acceptability to the party and the nation and what the person brings to the party. In a letter addressed to the Daily Graphic on a request by the paper to share his view on the selection of a running mate for his party, Mr Appiah-Menka, who said he was also speaking on behalf of the council of elders from the Ashanti Region, made it clear that by the 1992 Constitution and the NPP constitution, the choice of the party's running mate was the prerogative of the party's flag "bearer. He explained that as far as he was concerned the flag-bearer had not come out with any particular name as his running mate except speculations by the media and some members of the public. Mr Appiah-Menka, who described Nana as a democrat and ardent believer of rule of law who never acted capriciously even when he had the prerogative, said he was aware that the flag-bearer was still consulting and gathering constructive inputs not only from his own friends but all the sections of the party. Explaining the compatibility requirement, Mr Appiah-Menka said this was needed irrespective of the person's age and gender and added that the would-be running mate must "exhibit loyalty and commitment to Nana's vision and aspirations, as well as the ideals and expectations of the NPP from their president and his number two". He said although it was Nana Akufo-Addo who would be appealing to the electorate he would also at the same time be entering into covenant with Ghanaians that, "Behold for anytime of my absence from the country, I nominate this person to occupy my seat. You should so accept and respect his/her as you do for me." This, he said, made the people's perception about his number two very crucial. Regarding the third criteria, Mr Appiah-Menka said the NPP flag-bearer should exhibit his team-playing quality to the electorate and bring to bear the party's antecedent as a United Party (UP), and a united people moving forward for the unity and prosperity of the nation. He added that Nana Addo as a team player must "take into account the composition of the geopolitical majority of the south with the geopolitical minority north for the perceivable north and south equation". "Secondly, Nana should also consider the composition of the socio-cultural Christian majority with the socio-cultural Islam minority to reflect the two popular religious and identifiable groups in the country. In either consideration, the person's loyalty to the party's ideals should also be considered. As a party, NPP and the flag-bearer believe not only in winning but also building a society where the strong is just and the weak is protected," he advised.