In these days of fast living - fast food, fast cash, quick sex and so on - we have been conditioned to think that processes and systems are irrelevant; and that anything that stands in our way must be swiftly jettisoned. A married woman appeared before the family elders, suing fur marriage. Her reasons? The man was too aggressive in bed; another's complaint was that her man was too tame. Marriage in particular presents a unique platform for a test of wits and wills; not surprising thus that many simply ignore their vows at the least trouble. Expediency is the word now. A presidential ticket is much like matrimony; It comprises the president and his vice; the vice, by all signals, is the political wife. They stand and fall together; their differences if not handled well may result in open scandal. Recall the story of Jerry and the Stubborn Cat? I guess it was to prevent such incidents of presidential brawling at cabinet meetings that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under the aegis of ill Obed Asamoah, proposed the Vice Presidential Succession Bill to the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic. The main object of that bill was to make it easier for the President to get rid of his vice should, as the married couples say, "irreconcilable differences" arise. That bill fortunately or otherwise, didn't pass muster with the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, then under the leadership of Alban Bagbin. I guess what Parliament like any true Catholic was saying is that, the union is "for better for worse". In effect short of perhaps, arranging a sudden death of his vice, there's nothing much a president can do if he wants to offload his deputy; Which is why those heaping pressure on Nana Akufo Addo - by circulating names of so-called suitable candidates in the media - must be advised to halt their manoeuvres and let the man make his own choice in relative peace. I applauded the decision of Atta Mills in choosing John Mahama. That choice is simply brilliant, its controversial antecedent not withstanding. (When Mills loses Mahama would be in a pole position for the flag-bearership) And I'm quite certain that devoid of much pressure, Nana should come out with an equally popular choice. But frankly, some of the names being bandied about are nothing, if not laughable. Certainly, there are many people in a big pool; people who may have sweated long enough for the New Patriotic Party (NPP); who possess the requisite expertise and experience to be considered for this job; but ultimately the decision is Nanas to make. Currently, the political stress is on having a Muslim or a Northerner to balance the Christian/South equation. I don't know where this point sprang from; but I consider it not only invalid but more essentially, an insult to those very people who are supposed to be the beneficiaries. Backed by a well-organised party with an ear on the pulse of the people, Dr Hilla Limann, who was from Gwollu in the Upper East Region won the presidency in 1979. Affirming that the vice presidency should always be reserved for people from the North is to consign them perpetually to the short end of the political stick. Again the argument that having a Northerner or Muslim would translate into Northern or Muslim votes is an argument invalidated by -history. How many of such votes has Nasigre been able to garner since he began his political career? Didn't President Kufuor draw more popular support from the North than say, Alhaji Malik Yakubu in 1998? When Alhaji Aliu Mahama contested the presidential primary, didn't Alan Cash and Nana Addo beat him comprehensively even among his own people? In both 1992 and 1996 then President Rawlings ran with Kow Nkesen Arkaah and Atta Mills and still won decisively. Clearly then, the perception that a Northerner or Muslim is needed to balance a presidential ticket is misleading; and so is the estimation that fielding a woman candidate would offer any advantages. If that were so, Kwabena Darko's NIP with Prof Naa Afarley Sackeyfio would easily have snatched the ticket to the Castle in 1992. Like Hillary Clinton or Gloria Arroyo, among many other women trailblazers, Ghanaian women must learn to ascend the ladder of Ghanaian politics by merit. In all other professions including academia, where women have distinguished themselves, they have pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, why should politics be any exception? The keys to winning political power go far beyond the issue of running mates. Except on a few occasions where two personalities can both be said to be hugely popular (and even this point may be debatable) the norm is that it is the presidential candidate that wields the overwhelming clout; not his vice. But even where a formidable presidential candidate leads a feeble party, the results are bound to be a disappointment, as Dr Nduom would soon find out. That explains why no independent candidate has won any presidential contest till date; and why independent presidential candidates are seen as little more than jesters. Parties in Ghana with their organisational acumen and their calibre of leaders wield a lot of influence. I guess it is the law of teamwork at play. Therefore no single individual can be said to be greater than the party. No single individual can by himself determine the fortunes of a party. Jerry Rawlings with all his charisma still needed a political party to consolidate his power base. That is the reason a business tycoon such as Adjei Baah of Shaaba fame, still finds it necessary to align himself with a party after his trouncing as an independent. This issue of needing to balance a presidential ticket with some particular ethnic, gender or religious group has been flogged for far too long. At best each wannabe vice-president who just happens to belong to any of these blocs must be assessed on his or her own merit; without necessarily leaning on any sectional pillar for support. After all, don't we all belong to one group or the other? The person to partner Nana Akufo Addo must primarily be determined by Akufo-Addo; and no one else. All said and done he is the one who carries the can. Credit: Gordon Ayeh Adjei/Daily Graphic