The deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr James Agyenim Boateng has stated that “the NDC’s greatest asset today is President Mills” and not former President Rawlings as is being bundied around by political commentators.
The deputy Minister said President Mills’ capacity to unite party gurus who sat on the fence after falling out with Mr Rawlings in the past as well as those who are from other parties clearly prove that he is the kind of man that people want as president of Ghana and leader of the NDC.
Mr Agyenim Boateng who was speaking on Joy FM's Newsfile on Saturday indicated that President Mills is more accessible and attractive to all political parties and therefore appeals to people with diverse political philosophies in the country.
He said President Mills’ "humility, honesty and integrity" are the key factors that will ensure that he wins the presidential primaries come July 8.
“The president is focused on delivering his better Ghana agenda” he said, adding the achievement of the president in the past two and half years will be enough for him to emerge as the victor after the congress.
“The elections have been conducted already and July will just be a confirmation of the results. The elections have been conducted already and I believe the results will be announced on July 8 and the candidate will be His Excellency President Mills” he confidently stated.
He challenged those from Nana Konadu’s camp who have questioned the performance of the President calling such positions “a mere façade” and a “non issue,” asking what they expected the president to do after just a week in office.
Former President Rawlings, during the launch of Nana Konadu’s campaign for the flagbearship slot of the NDC last Wednesday, said the president lost the 2012 elections after just being in office for a week. No reasons have been adduced for that position yet.
Asked whether the people who came to support the President during the launch of his campaign were not stage managed, Mr Agyenim Boateng revealed that the president was not in favour of a show of "pomp and pageantry" and that the people who came to show their solidarity were just there on their own volition.
He conceded though, that the people who came were all not delegates but the crowd was a clear show of grassroots support for the president.
“Government could not prevent people from coming to show support to him… It is indicative of peoples’ goodwill towards the President,” he said.
He said the President is ready to work with his opponents after the elections.
Mr. Agyenim Boateng said he has not come across any traitors in President Mill's government yet and that "as for the traitors and enemies, indeed they are in the NDC and the traitors and enemies are those working against the interest of the NDC."
Fair weather friends
But former General Secretary of the NDC and a member of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings’ campaign team, Dr. Josiah Aryeh who was also a panelist on Newsfile however stated that those perceived friends of the Rawlingses who are now supporting President Mills are just “fair weather friends,” suggesting they are only supporting the President because that is how they can get appointments and favours.
He said these people are afraid of losing their jobs and that it will become a situation of questioning the rule of the government of which they are appointees.
Dr. Aryeh wants the debate on the flagbearership race to be moved from Mr Rawlings to the real candidate, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings. He said people are getting the comparison wrong as they are pitching President Mills against Mr. Rawlings, stressing that Nana Konadu must be judged based on her own merits.
He said Mrs Rawlings, like anyone else, has a democratic right to challenge the President, a situation he beleives will ultimately deepen democracy in the party.
He called on the party executives to make the party more representative by introducing the grassroots to its decision making process.
"The voice of the constituents must be more representative,” he stressed. | | | | |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment