The absence of Jerry John Rawlings from activities the National Democratic Congress staged prior to the 2016 general elections, left the party looking like a body without a soul.
Figures recorded in the aftermath of the elections would go down as one of the most embarrassing defeat a major political party has suffered in the history of Ghana. And one person who decided that was Rawlings- take him out of the NDC and the party is dead, Alhaji Dori has observed.
As the party makes strides to challenge the New Patriotic Party in 2020, Alhaji Dori, a stalwart of the NDC, has warned that the unnecessary bickering and power play in the party must put to the back-burner.
Speaking to Peacefmonline.com, Alhaji Dori, a former parliamentary aspirant of Bawku Central constituency noted that ex-President Rawlings has the silent majority backing any decision he takes within the party; making it impossible to leave him out of every step the NDC takes.
“Rawlings has since been an icon and a force to reckon with in the political fortunes of the NDC and this is evidential especially if he mounts the podium to address party folks. His philosophical speeches and constant reminder to our party leaders to uphold the core principles and values proves he is a born leader.”
In 2008, the NDC was able to bounce back to power and Alhaji Dori insists majority of the credit must be given to ex-president Rawlings for his support.
“Rawlings has a way of pulling the crowd especially when he appears or hit the campaign grounds as he did in 2008 which saw the comeback of the NDC to government. By virtue of being the founder of the party and ruling this country for almost 20 years, he has grounded himself with core loyal NDC members who look up to him for inspiration and directions.”
He continued that “Rawlings has a gifted charisma that has since centre staged his political career, we must not mess with him. As a party, we can take advantage of that to our fortunes going forward.”
Alhaji Dori ended by appealing to the leadership of the NDC to try hard and manage their ego in dealing with Rawlings.
“He has the numbers and large followers who will always go with his decision to either support or not support the party before, during and after elections”, he advised.
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