NDC to split should Botchwey lose- Party member

A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Eddie Palmer, has disclosed that there are fears that some top gurus within the NDC will break away to form a new political party should Dr Kwesi Botchwey lose the flagbearership to Prof John Evans Atta Mills come Saturday’s special delegates congress.

“For now, it is a rumour within the party and so must it remain until after the congress,” he told The Evening News in an interview. He however dismissed suggestions that former President Jerry Rawlings, who is the founder of the NDC, had the intention of forming a new party should Dr Botchwey become the presidential candidate of the party.

Palmer, who is also the founder and patron of the John Evans Atta Mills Network (JEAMNET), explained that it would be a very bad precedent for Dr Botchwey to lead the NDC into the 2004 general elections.

His reason has nothing to do with Dr Kwesi Botchwey’s qualification but the fact that he dislodged from the party for over seven years. According to him, the former Finance Minister had not been committed to the growth of the party.

“And unlike Dr Kwesi Botchwey there are committed members who stood by the party through thick and thin and like every institution, these party members must grow within the NDC to higher positions.”

“It will not encourage party development if Dr Botchwey wins because what it will mean is that, after serving the party for so long anybody at all could be brought from nowhere to occupy position above committed members.”

Palmer, the immediate past vice-chairman of the party in the Greater Accra Region, said Professor Mills had shown a high level commitment towards the NDC.

“He has worked so hard towards the development of the party over the years to become a member,” he stressed, adding that “he deserved to be given the mandate to lead it into the 2004 general elections.”

The leading member emphasised that even though he supports Prof Mills, he was very much against the Swedru Declaration by his mentor, ex-President Rawlings. He noted that Prof Mills contested the 2000 elections and had 45 per cent of the votes, Dr Botchwey had not tested the muddy waters and could not therefore, be credited with even a one per cent vote.

“Let me tell you, the NDC do not even know what the electorate think of Dr Botchwey,” he said. According, party faithful should support Professor Mills because arriving at his candidature was made after high intellectual calculation by JEAMNET.

He, however, cautioned both candidates and their camps to desist from inducing delegates with money. “These things do happen in politics,” he said, apparently referring to his own experience during the 2001 Greater Accra Regional NDC Congress in Tema.