The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has impugned the leadership qualities of ex-president John Mahama.
Comparing him to a “reckless driver” the flagbearer aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) says he perceived disaster for the party during John Dramani Mahama’s tenure as president.
He said although he warned about the danger ahead, he was ignored but his fears came to pass when the party loss miserably in the 2016 general elections.
The Nadoli Kaleo Member of Parliament wants to prevent an even miserable defeat in 2020, a reason he is pushing for the party leadership to be changed.
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“You struggle at the grass root, you harvest for us to win, usually after that where do you count? That is one of the reasons why you used to hear my voice criticising my own people. Because I could see afar that this driver was driving recklessly and he would get into an accident.
“I was giving the warning signals. So when I started raising those issues, if my brothers and sisters in NDC had taken note and worked hard, I don’t think we would have lost the 2016 elections with almost one million votes,” he said.
Mr Bagbin has been one of the most vocal critics of the Mahama-led administration even before it lost power to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2016.
Describing the administration as an “animal farm” he has consistently held that the former president was the reason the NDC lost the 2016 elections.
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As the race for the presidential elections heats up in the party, Mr Bagbin is again raising doubt about former president Mahama’s ability to perform although he is yet to declare his intentions.
Out of the six who have shown interest in the topmost position of the party, Mr Bagbin believes he is the party’s best bet.
He told supporters of the party in the Volta Region where he has been campaigning that he has their interest at heart and has been unimpressed with the way they have been treated by the previous administration.
“Today, those who were leading us from 2013 to 2016 with those powers where are they? We are again struggling to get the party back to power.
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“Today I have decided to risk it once again, to offer myself to lead once again to recover our lost glory. The decision is in your hands.”
The seven-time MP is also planning a way to bring back former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings to the NDC if elected.
“People who are committed to the NDC are leaving one by one. Even our first mother had to go and form a party…even the founding father is now criticising us.”
Mr Bagbin wants the numbers on his side and promised not to engage in politics of insult, “we are trying to do a clean campaign so that at the end of the day, whoever is elected can get all of us back.
“And if it is me, I will do everything to bring everybody back,” he added.
