I wasn’t surprised when Konadu formed NDP - Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has sought to explain what some critics term as political contradictions in the Rawlings family, saying though he (Rawlings) was not expecting his wife to establish her own party, he was also not surprised when it happened.

According to him, the image of the NDC had fallen so low at that time that the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the party was so embarrassingly poorly subscribed.

“I think people felt safer with a party in government than a new party, principled, but not in government. Had the Good Lord not called Mills away, NDC would have lost election. As clear as daylight. Everybody, we all knew it. So in a way his departure was also a blessing. And that is where the young man [Mahama] provided the leadership and he literally fought that battle almost alone because there was a questionable executive around him. Not all of them though,” the ex-president said.

Mr Rawlings is still with the NDC, the party he founded and plays a key role in affairs of the ruling party. However, his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings broke away from the NDC after she lost a presidential primary against then President and candidate John Evans Atta Mills.

Quite recently, reports were rife in the media that whereas the ex-President was proffering an all hands on deck to have the economic mess fixed, his wife Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, who is also the founder and flagbearer of the beleaguered National Democratic Party (NDP) was going ballistic, apportioning blames to Government officials.

She reportedly even attacked the Government for going to seek an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout to salvage the rapid depreciation of the Cedi.

But speaking to Metro Television’s Frank Nyonator on a wide-range of issues, Mr Rawlings said even though his wife’s party was “principled”, people “felt safer with a party in government” than one that was not in power.

Touching on the party’s impending internal elections, the former President sounded a terse note of warning to members of the ruling National Democratic Congress that should the party fail to elect persons of unquestionable integrity in the forthcoming party congress in October, then they should expect the boot in 2016.

The former president also charged delegates to elect persons who have the capacity to take on the executive and compel them to take decisions that win government and party confidence amongst party faithful and Ghanaians as a whole.

A not too optimistic Jerry Rawlings, however indicated that should the NDC elect people who have a sound sense of purpose and integrity and understand the political history the country and party have endured and have the ability to confront and assist the government to turn the wheel of depression, then there will be hope in 2016.

“The NDC as it stands now doesn’t have what it takes really to exert the necessary pressure on the executive or to assist the president. So what we are hoping for is that it will come out with personalities of integrity who will restore a sense of hope back in their support base in the country as a whole; because it is a truly disappointing and painful situation. We’ve done it before and I don’t see why we can’t do it again. We just have to fall on the right people and track the right path,” the Founder of the ruling NDC said.

Rawlings stated that if the newly elected executives were ready to think out of the box and do to what is necessary to lift the image of the party then its fortunes could be better in the next general election.