PNC, CPP face extinction if... - Edward Mahama
Dr Edward Nasigre Mahama, the four-time presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC) has predicted the imminent extinction of the splintered Nkrumahists parties should they fail to unite soon.
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Expressing concern about the dwindling fortunes of the two ‘Nkrumahist’ parties; PNC and the Convention People’s Party (CPP), he noted that they are likely to go into extinction if they do not quicken ongoing unity talks.
“If the Nkrumahist were to unite and we have a credible alternative then I will support whoever that we choose to be the leader of that party. But at the moment both PNC and CPP are on the way to extinction if they don’t unite.”
He alleged that some leading members of the parties were against the unity talks, adding that, “in 2000, there were leading CPP people we thought were talking unity but they were deeply in the government of the NPP and so they were not interested.”
Dr Mahama also alleged that vote-buying in the country’s politics was also affecting the parties fortunes.
“The kind of politics that the PNC wants to play is not the kind of politics that Ghanaians in general are playing. You have to buy the votes in Ghana and they will tell you, give me my money now or…
“PNC has never believed in buying votes and that is why a party like PNC, which believes in presenting to the nation policies and programmes to be elected and voted based on those policies and programmes cannot come to power,” he said.
But the four-time presidential candidate of the PNC also hinted of his likely comeback to frontline politics ahead of the 2016 General Elections.
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Dr. Mahama was speaking on Accra-based Radio XYZ on Monday, saying he was still politically active but was focusing on his work as a doctor.
Although he failed to state categorically which political party he would be representing, Dr Mahama said “it is not over yet. Anything is possible but for now, I am concentrating on my alternatives.”
“There is something called draft, where people would actually draft a candidate. In 1996 NCP and Egle said they were drafting President Rawlings as a candidate,” he hinted.
Freedom
Following his failure to lead the PNC in the 2012 General Election, Dr Mahama says the party has helped lessen his burdens, making him feel free and younger.
“Not being in front row leadership of the party has allowed me to see that… you know it was a weight that I was carrying. People see me and say you are looking younger and I say yes because I am not wearing the burden of PNC and the country indeed. Because when I was running for President I had to think 'what do we do in health, what do we do in education, what do I do in agriculture if I am given the mandate…,'” he stated.
“Those were always preoccupying me but now that I am not running for President I don’t have to worry about whether there is power or not”.