As the NDC clears the hurdle of who becomes its chairman amidst controversies, it is now faced with the choice of its flagbearer for the 2004 elections.
Founder, former president Rawlings has cautioned the party against who it chooses to lead it to the crucial election, which the party hopes to win.
Accordingly, he told delegates at the just-ended delegates congress in Accra “some of us are thinking that the fact that a so-called non-charismatic person like president Kufuor can emerge, then anybody for that matter can emerge, then we are making a serious mistake.” To the former president, the NDC is noted for producing very high caliber of persons and although he says he will support whomever the party decides on, he would the party elects somebody with a lot of charisma to lead it to the next election.
With its current internal democracy, which manifested in the adoption of a proposal that made Mr. Rawlings relinquish the position of leader and a referendum that stopped the co-chairmanship system for a single chairmanship, the NDC would now be faced with the choice of a presidential candidate who will ensure victory for it in the 2004 elections. The election of the presidential candidate is also expected to be a departure from the past.
Former Vice-President and the 2000 flagbearer of the party, Professor Evans Atta Mills is no doubt positioning himself for the battle of 2004 of which the NDC says, “We shall return.”
The law Professor who was declared the party’s leader in what has become known as “the Swedru declaration,” has drop hints of what he intends to do if he were voted to power in the next elections. He told the delegates’ congress last Saturday that the next NDC government will remain truthful to the people. “Once back in power, we shall ensure that there is truthfulness and transparency in all our dealings with the people.” Mills said.
Hear him, “watching the NPP perform in government, we have also learnt several lessons, one of which is that, putting a spin on every act or omission of government or every national event is counter-productive. It ends up creating many more problems for the government itself.”
He noted therefore that, there would be no room in the next NDC government for any spin-doctors whose job would be to massage and misrepresent government actions and omissions as well as national events.
Professor Mills however warned that the only way for the NDC to regain power is through hard work, although his former boss says it looks like a sure banker for the party. “We can get back to power only if we put our act together,” Mills who was worried about the crisis in the party he led in 2000 said.
Meanwhile, as it ended its ordinary delegates congress on a rather controversial note, the NDC is optimistic of regaining power in 2004. To former president Rawlings, the 2004 elections look like a sure banker for his party. He assured that he would not stand in the way of the party in the selection of
In spite of the disagreements in the party over whether there should be a single chairman or co-chairmen which resulted in the almost evenly divided house, which manifested in the voting at the Congress, the NDC says it is still united and has what it takes to boot the “non-performing” New Patriotic Party government out of power in 2004.
The NDC itself admits that regaining power will take a lot of hard work, house-cleaning exercise and commitment to the cause of the party
