News:
July 6, 2011
The upcoming Delegates Congress of the NDC appears to forebode some bad news for the ruling party and Majority Leader, Cletus Avoka, is praying that the decision by former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to contest President Mills for the flagbearership slot of the party will not follow ‘tradition’.
Ghosts of the party’s past, or so it appears, have visited Mr Avoka who envisages danger ahead of the Congress if care is not taken, because the party’s congresses have in the past given birth to one splinter group or another.
Hon. Avoka and leadership of the majority in parliament on Tuesday urged Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to let go her ambition to lead the party into the 2012 general Elections with the explanation that it is an affront to a convention where sitting Presidents are allowed to complete two terms before bowing out.
Nana Konadu visited the parliamentarians in a bid to convince them to support her candidature but the MPs told her to shelve her ambitions and support President Mills as he is an assured candidate for victory in 2012.
Even though the campaign team of Nana Konadu has rejected this call, Hon. Avoka wants her to take a second look at their call as her candidature could spell irreparable break for the party.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, Hon Avoka said, “Nana Konadu will be a hero in the country and within NDC ranks if at Sunyani she tells the delegates and the whole world” that she is withdrawing her candidature.
“It is never too late in a political dispensation of this nature,” he said, adding Nana Konadu still has a lot of time to consider their counsel.
He revealed that this is not the first time the Majority Caucus has called on her to support President Mills as they have previously met former President Rawlings and the Council of Elders where they pleaded with them to prevail on Mrs Rawlings to withdraw from the contest.
Responding to questions whether he was scared about Nana Konadu’s candidature, Hon. Avoka said “to be frank with you our internal congresses have not normally ended in the best of results.”
He recounted situations in the past where leading members of the party had broken away to set up new parties because they felt aggrieved by the outcome of the congress.
He further stated that the Koforidua Congress in 2006 which saw Dr. Obed Asamoah losing the Chairmanship slot to Dr. Kwabena Adjei created a huge problem, with some party members leaving with Dr. Asamoah to set up the Democratic Freedom Party.
Hon. Avoka indicated that he does not understand why the convention that a sitting president should not be challenged is being tampered with, citing the two terms served by both former Presidents J.A. Kufuor and J.J. Rawlings as examples.
Throwing more light on the situation, Mr. Avoka explained that Nana Konadu is a very qualified candidate and that her credentials cannot be questioned but there is a difference between having the “morality” to contest a sitting president and being qualified to do so.
He however said the NDC MPs are not worried about the outcome of the elections because there have been assurances from both sides that the loser will work together with the winning team for victory in 2012.
Source: myjoyonline