PNC TO SUPPORT NPP IN ROUND 2 (PAGE 13)

THE People’s National Convention (PNC) has given a clear hint that it will throw its weight behind the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the event of a run-off in the December presidential poll.
“We are promising you that as a political party, at that critical time when the going gets tough, the PNC — the small axe — is always there to assist you to continue with your good works,” Mr Henry Asante, an executive member of the PNC, assured the NPP in Sekondi on Saturday.
He however urged the NPP’s vice-presidential nominee, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and the party to take good care of their daughter, Samira. Mrs Samira Bawumia is the wife of Dr Bawumia and daughter of the PNC’s Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan.
Delivering a solidarity message at the 16th annual delegates conference of the NPP, Mr Asante who was the leader of the three-memebr delegation, said since 1992, the PNC was one of those who made it possible for the NPP to win political power in 2000.
“We are praying that you will continue to be where you are not forgetting the small axe that made it possible for you to be where you are today.”
He said all the political parties were in the race to win the 2008 general election, and was optimistic of the chances of the PNC winning.
Mr Asante also expressed the hope that in the event that the PNC took the lead, the NPP would also support the party to win the election.
In a similar solidarity message, Mr Bede Ziedeng of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) congratulated the NPP for successfully organising its conference to take stock of its performance and to position it for the forthcoming elections in December.
Mr Ziedeng said the processes that led to the selection of presidential and parliamentary candidates and its associated problems were normal, and that it should be considered as an act to deepen the country’s democratic process.
“We must know that those challenges are not peculiar to the NPP but a bye-product of democracy which we must all endeavor to manage.” he stated.
Mr Ziedeng appealed to the NPP to let the conference be a refreshing platform for the healing of wounds as well as rejuvenation of the party. “We of the DFP believe that when political parties which are the building blocks of any democracy are healthy, then democracy itself becomes healthy of which its growth could be ensured and guaranteed.”
The DFP is fully committed to the promotion of democratic practice and will encourage all political parties to demonstrate their unequivocal support to its growth, Mr Ziedeng stated.
He dismissed the notion that the race to the presidency was only between the NPP and NDC, saying that “we of the DFP will not only disagree but it is a wrong deal and as far as we are concerned we are all fully in the race and any of us could win the race.”
“Because any of us could win, DFP would like all political parties to commit themselves to accept the outcome of the elections no matter what surprises that may spring up. Let us all respect the will of the people of Ghana ,” he said.
Mr Zieding said the DFP would like to assure all Ghanaians that, they would accept the outcome of the results and respect their will.