the CPP were defeated in the 1956 elections it would happily be a loyal opposition to an NLM government and he challenged that leader of the NLM, Dr Busia to give a similar undertaking. In a portent of how the opposition would behave post-independence, Dr. Busia openly declared instead that the NLM would "take steps IN and OUT of the Legislative Assembly" against the CPP, which he described as "evil". The CPP election machine sprang into action, confident of a decisive result but taking no chances. As on previous occasions, the party manifesto was brief, summed up in just seventeen words: Do I want Independence in my life-time? Or do I want to revert to feudalism and imperialism?’ The impractical, divisive option of federalism in a country the size of Ghana was not allowed to cloud the issue. In June 1956, the CPP recorded another impressive victory winning 71 seats including all 44 seats in the Colony and 8 out of the 21 in Ashanti. The NLM failed to win a single seat outside Ashanti. However, for all their appeal to Ashanti nationalism, the CPP won 43 percent of the votes cast in Ashanti, proving once again that although the NLM was predominantly an Ashanti party, not all Ashantis were NLM supporters. Once again Dr J. B. Danquah failed to win his seat but that was not the only familiar outcome: again the NLM refused to accept the results of democratic elections and proceeded to derail the transitional plans toward independence. With twisted logic argued that the distribution of the votes in the 1956 election vindicated their position for a federal constitution because the CPP did not win a majority in Ashanti or the Northern Territories. Defeating the NLM separatists and threats of partition After the election, Nkrumah tabled the motion for independence on 3 August 1956 but NLM members of the Assembly, including Dr K. A. Busia, Mr Joe Appiah and Mr R. R. Amponsah walked out in protest and the motion passed 72-0. As Richard Rathbone put it: "The newly elected opposition appeared unwilling to accept the results of the election which they signified by walking out of the first session of the newly elected Legislative Assembly. The NLM, once again resorted to its tried and trusted tactics of boycott, lobbying to London and threatening secession. … The NLM continued to suggest that it would refuse to operate