No One Should Contest Against Mahama

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, is kicking strongly against the possibility of any presidential hopeful contesting President John Dramani Mahama for the 2016 flagbeaership of the ruling party. The NDC�s popular General Secretary, who has been speaking in a number of radio interviews lately on rumours suggesting that President Mahama would be contested for the 2016 flagbearership of the party, espouses the principle that any contest against a sitting president in an attempt to block his second term bid is a high risk venture that has grave consequences for any ruling party anywhere in the world. The NDC Chief Scribe has therefore cautioned his party to be wary of any attempt to challenge the President for the flagbearership of the party in the 2016 elections because such a move, in his candid opinion, will do the party more harm than good. He believes that President Mahama must be given the chance to lead the party again to yet another victory in the 2016 elections devoid of an unnecessary internal contest that can only create more problems for the party and provide ammunition to the desperate New Patriotic Party (NPP) against it. Mr Asiedu Nketia, also known as General Mosquito, gave three scenarios to buttress his position as to why it would be wrong for President Mahama to be contested for the NDC�s 2016 flagbearership in an attempt to deny him the opportunity of leading the party into his second term election. Scenario one: The popular NDC Chef Scribe said when a sitting president is contested and the contender gets even 10% of the votes, it will send wrong signals about the popularity of the president within his own party and this can provide ammunition for the opposition parties against the ruling party, apart from the divisions it will create within the ranks of the party. Scenario two: General Mosquito is also of the view that if a sitting president loses a flagbearership contest for his second term bid, it can create a situation of power struggle as far as running the party�s affairs is concerned. He believes an aggrieved president who loses such a contest can work things into the hands of the opposition to the detriment of the flagbearership who defeated him at congress. Scenario three: He added that when a flagbearer who wins against a sitting president chooses a running mate, that may create a conflict situation between him and the vice president. Regrettable FONKAR episode He warned against repeating the 2010 spectacle where the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings contested the then incumbent President John Evans Atta Mills, saying it will just whip up unnecessary sentiments and divide the support base of the party. "You will have your party's support base divided; maybe one-third or half would be following your new presidential candidate, the other two-thirds would be following the sitting president, meanwhile the opposition party would be united behind Nana Akufo Addo, what would you think the possible outcome will be? How can anybody win an election in that circumstance?" he asked. To many an NDC faithful, Mr Asiedu Nketia�s exposition holds a lot of water since the party is yet to fully recover from the regrettable �Friends of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings� (FONKAR) episode that created huge problems for the party ahead of the 2012 elections when Mrs Konadu Agyemang Rawlings took the unpopular decision to contest the then President John Evans Atta Mills for the NDC�s flagbearership. Seed of suspicion The NDC Chief Scribe is not ruling out the possibility of the rumours being a device of the opposition NPP to sow a seed of suspicions within the NDC ahead of the 2016 elections. �It may be an agenda from outside, with the objective of planting it inside, so when it is swallowed inside, then we would begin suspecting each other and then we create problems for our campaign because you cannot plan a campaign with people you don't trust," General Mosquito said.