AN aspiring presidential candidate of the Convention People�s Party (CPP), Mr Bright Ablitey Akwetey, has taken a swipe at the Minority in Parliament for its behaviour towards President Mills when he presented the State of the Nation Address to the House last Thursday.
He was of the opinion that irrespective of the political differences between the Majority and the Minority, President Mills was voted for by the majority of Ghanaians and was, therefore, the embodiment of the soul and spirit of the country and should be accorded the highest respect, recognition and acknowledgment.
Presenting his nomination forms to contest the flag-bearer position of the CPP in Accra Monday, Mr Akwetey said although some level of heckling was allowed in parliamentary practice, what the Minority did was unacceptable.
Describing the day as �Ghana�s day of shame�, he wondered what might have motivated the Minority�s decision to wear mourning clothes and red bands when President Mills was addressing Parliament.
He said the Minority �needlessly heckled the President, jeered and booed at him and ordered him out of the chamber with red cards, amidst the blowing of whistles and shouts of �away!, �away!��.
He said what took place on February 16, 2012 cut a very �shameful and humiliating spectacle� for all Ghanaians and Ghana as a state, as it occurred in the full view of the international community.
�I call on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Minority MPs to immediately render an unqualified apology to the President and the good people of Ghana,� Mr Akwetey advised.
He noted that no country could make great strides if its people, especially the leaders, were indisciplined and expressed worry that �indiscipline appears to have infected and permeated the very fabric of our society, to the extent that the beacons of society, MPs of whom much is expected, have descended into the arena of indiscipline�.
He said the 2012 elections were crucial for the development and sustenance of the country but that it was not a �do-or-die� affair and asked how a contest for the governance of the country could be done in a confrontational and violent manner.
He appealed to members of the CPP and Ghanaians who had attained the voting age of 18 and above to participate fully in the forthcoming biometric voters registration exercise because it was a noble and civic responsibility.
He said the CPP�s desire to win the 2012 elections could only be achieved if all members joined forces with the leadership to mobilise support for the party and urged the delegates to its congress to vote massively for him to lead the CPP.
Mr Akwetey pledged to offer quality leadership that would unite the entire party and eventually secure a resounding victory to take the CPP back to the Flagstaff House.
Receiving the nomination forms, the General Secretary of the party, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, commended the various aspirants for the peaceful manner in which they had engaged party members to solicit their support.
He stated that nominations for presidential aspirants would end on February 23, 2012, while congress would come off in March this year, explaining that the specific date in the month would be communicated to the public in due course.
Another leading member of the party, Dr Abu Sakara Foster, who was the running mate to the CPP�s presidential candidate in 2008, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has also picked nomination forms.
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