The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) cannot be underestimated in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, former President Jerry John Rawlings has warned the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking at the launch of the 2016 campaign of the NDC at the Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday August 14, Mr Rawlings, who is the founder of the party, said: “What is important is to recognise that what is ahead of you will not be an easy task, it is going to be quite a challenge and it is going to be quite demanding. I can only appeal that you do not allow unnecessary and undue provocation to create undue tension. Let’s go through this campaign as responsibly as we possibly can, all the way into the elections.”
He added: “…There are certain weaknesses that we need to deal with. Let me just give you one point: …the NPP cannot be underestimated, you know it and I know it. They have been in existence for a long time and they have been changing their names up till this day. The nature of who they are, what they are, where they have come from, is something they are happy with and they will be there for a long time. The calculation I want to put before you is that by virtue of who and what they are, their mannerism, their character will necessarily give rise to what you and I are in the NDC.
“…By virtue of who we are [and] where we have come from, how we came into being, I keep saying we cannot afford to fight them on their terms. It is important that we fight them on our terms.”
Mr Rawlings further stated: “What are those terms? …Let’s not mimic their behaviour. Let us reach into the principles and the values that emerged out of the circumstances that gave birth to us and if we can hold onto those principles and those values, we will move way into the future and no one can ever defeat us.”
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