General News of Saturday, 16 September 2017
Source: classfmonline.com
2017-09-16
Former President, Jerry John Rawlings
The founder of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Jerry John Rawlings has questioned his party’s readiness to win back power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2020 general elections.
He said his wish is to see the NDC win the 2020 elections but wondered if the party had what it took to the beat the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government.
“Let me simply say, that I will very much want to see the NPP beaten but do we have what it takes? Do we have the capacity to be able to wrestle power from them?” he quizzed.
Mr Rawlings in an earlier interaction with the CEO of EIB Network, Bola Ray said it was impossible for the NDC to beat the NPP in 2020.
He was reported to have asked “These people think they can unseat this man [Akufo-Addo] in 2020?”
Asked by Bola Ray if he thought it was impossible for the NDC to unseat the NPP in 2020, the founder of the NDC answered: “NPP? After only four years? No!” adding that, if the NPP does “well enough”, it will retain power in 2020, and “so far it doesn’t look too bad”.
For the NDC to regain power, Mr Rawlings told TV3 in an interview that the party must begin to clean up. “The most important factor I believe has to do with the issue of the cleanup that needs to be done; the restoration of our integrity. We don’t like to hear it but I keep repeating it. We have to go back, seek a moral high ground and I believe we know what to do but I don’t think we are prepared to confront it or that’s what I’ve noticed about some of our people,” he observed.
He added: “The manner in which the electoral process has been happening since Sunyani has not been encouraging. It’s unfortunate, most unfortunate how come we lost the moral high grounds. I think they know what needs to be done.”
Mr. Rawlings said the NDC should embark on an empowerment process to give the party back to the grassroot. In his view “…Let’s give the party back to them [grassroot], they are the ones who actually make it possible to win or lose elections, let’s respect their views, lets respect their pain, their sensitivity.”
He advised the top hierarchy to unite around the old values of the party.
