Mills Supports Minority Boycott

The former Vice-President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, has expressed his support for the Minority NDC?s decision to boycott the work of Parliament last week.

Professor Mills, however, said that ?for the sake of national interest, the Minority should take a look at the call by the Speaker to return to the House so that the matter could be resolved amicably?.

The boycott was embarked on last week Thursday and Friday over what the Minority termed as ?executive intrusion on the rights and privileges of members?.

The former Vice-President, who is contesting the NDC flagbearership position for the 2004 general elections, was answering questions from the media at a press soiree in Tamale at the weekend.

This was at the end of his week-long campaign tour of the Northern Region where he interacted with party supporters and executives in the various constituencies.

He urged delegates to the party?s special congress in December, this year, to vote him to lead the NDC to victory in the next general elections.

He assured the supporters that the congress, which has been slated for December 21, to elect a flagbearer for the 2004 presidential elections, will not be postponed again. The congress was supposed to have been held on December 7 but was postponed to the current date.

Professor Mills promised to help in reconciling the rank and file of the party after the congress but added that this objective can only be achieved if members show good faith and sincerity towards one another.

The former Vice-President further re-iterated that he has never regretted declaring that when elected as the President of Ghana, he will consult the former president, Flt Lt. Rawlings, 24 hours daily.

?What I said in Ho was taken out of context,? he said, adding, ?Perhaps I should have kept quite over it, and even though it did not come out too well, given the atmosphere there, that was the only way to introduce some levity to the happenings at the time.?

Professor Mills explained that the system of governance doesn?t allow anybody to control the President, neither can he consult people all the time.

On the prevailing economic situation in the country, the former vice-president said that all is not well with the government?s handling of the economy.

He said whatever gains the government claims to be making in the economy are not reflecting in the well- being of the people, as is being witnessed in all parts of the country.

Professor Mills expressed grave concern over the endemic poverty in the three northern regions and said that any strategy to alleviate poverty in the country must target those areas.