Ayariga declares support for NDC
Barely 24 hours after a group within the All Peoples Congress (APC) announced their support for the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, the disqualified flag bearer and leader of the party, Mr Hassan Ayariga, has also thrown his weight behind President John Mahama.
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At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Ayariga announced that upon a careful scrutiny of the proposals that were tabled before the party after it was disqualified from the presidential election by the Electoral Commission (EC), the party saw President Mahama as the best bet for the country.
In a charged atmosphere amid chanting of the party’s slogan,its rank and file, including the national leadership, regional and constituency executive members, as well as the parliamentary candidates for the 2016 election, rallied round the flag bearer as he made that official announcement.
“I am proud to stand here today on my behalf and on behalf of the national executive members of our party, the constituency executive members, the parliamentary candidates and the rank and file of the party to declare the total support of the APC to President Mahama.
“I will offer my help, my energy, my vote and commitment of all members of APC to support President Mahama because he is a unifier, has extraordinary leadership and knows the demands of the people at this moment without vilifying those who hold a different view,” he added.
Previous controversy
While the party was preparing to hold a press conference to announce its decision to support President Mahama yesterday, the General Secretary, Mr Razak Kojo Opoku, and the running mate of its disqualified flag bearer, Mr Emmanuel Carl Bartels, went ahead to announce their support for the NPP candidate, a situation which stirred some controversy in the party.
The two party leaders were subsequently sacked from the party last Friday after they allegedly went to the NPP headquarters to confer with the leadership of that party against the unanimous stance of the APC.
The APC was among 12 other political parties that were disqualified by the EC from contesting this year’s election on various counts of irregularities in the filing of their nomination forms. Following a legal battle that ensued between some of the disqualified parties and the EC, the Supreme Court ordered the EC to give the parties the opportunity to correct the errors on their nomination forms and be reconsidered.
However, the APC could not take advantage of the lifeline offered them as they failed to meet the deadline. Since then, it has been unclear whether the party would throw its weight behind any of the parties contesting the election.
Mahama’s endorsement
Stating the reasons for the APC’s decision to throw its weight behind President Mahama in the 2016 election, Mr Ayariga observed that the policies espoused in the NDC manifesto had some synergy with the ideologies of the APC, stressing that even though the party operated a hybrid of capitalism and socialism, it was convinced the NDC had what it took to develop the country.
According to him, the challenges facing the country did not originate from the era of President Mahama but added that the President had demonstrated enough courage and commitment to deal with those challenges, daunting as they were.
He,however, stated categorically that the APC was a recognised political party in the country and that the decision to support President Mahama in this year’s election did not mean that the party had join forces with the NDC.
