Spio-Garbrah: No One Can Win NDC Flagbearership Without JJ

A flag bearer aspirant of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has opined that no one can win the flagbearership of the party without the support of former President Rawlings. �This is a founder whose vote is the majority of the NDC delegates coming to any congress. There is nobody who has won any congress to become a flagbearer in this party who can say that they won the flagbearership contest without the support of the founder as it is now being peddled�. He reiterated that the role and support of the party�s founder would be very crucial to whoever emerge as winner of the NDC flagbearership race ahead of election 2012. Dr. Spio-Garbrah made this known when he paid homage to former President Rawlings to seek his blessings in his second term bid to contest the NDC's presidential primary scheduled in Sunyani from July 8-10. �If you have a party and that party has a founder and you want to assume any leadership position in that party, you still need to respect the position of the founder and present yourself to him� he added. The Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization noted that then candidate Mills won the party�s flagbearership race against him in 2006 by a huge margin because of the massive support he received from former President Rawlings. He said the argument that a sitting President should not be challenged within his own party in his first term is undemocratic because the NDC need a leadership that would wipe out Nana Akufo-Addo, the flag-bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the first round. Dr. Spoi-Garbrah who likened himself to David in the Bible said he is in the flagbearership contest to redeem the NDC from the Goliath of lies and deceit within the party for a resounding victory in 2012. He downplayed suggestions that he will throw in the towel and support Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to unseat President Mills in the July 8 contest, adding that he will complete the race.