Bagbin urges delegates to vote conscientiously before NDC presidential primary on Saturday

General News on Thursday, February 21, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-02-21

In the upcoming presidential election of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) scheduled for Saturday, the second vice president and a presidential candidate, Mr. Alban Sumani Kingsford Bagbin, urged party delegates to vote peacefully and in accordance with their conscience. .

"Let us be guided by our inner voices. Vote according to our conscience and do what is right for the NDC to win the 2020 elections, "he said.

He added that the presidential primary offered opportunities and choices to party members and that it was incumbent upon delegates to vote for candidates "who have character, integrity and who can be counted on and respected. on which we can count. "

Speaking to the Daily Graphic about his chances of becoming the NDC's flag bearer, Bagbin said he is very optimistic.

He said, "The campaign has been good and God has been merciful to me. My message, which was very well received by the delegates, responds to the current challenges of the party (NDC) and the country in general and I am sure to be able to gather about 50% of the vote next Saturday.

He said: "I did my best and I leave the rest to God."
Candidate candidates

Bagbin, also the fourth-largest MP of the Fourth Republic, is one of seven other candidates wishing to become the NDC's flag bearer for the 2020 elections.

The other candidates are former president John Dramani Mahama, who has been vice president for three and a half years and president for four and a half years; Joshua Alabi, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Alhaji Nurideen Iddrisu, Sylvester Adinam Mensah (Sly) and Augustus Goosie Tanoh.

Call for six candidates

He also called on his constituents at Saturday's primary to keep in mind that democracy was an institutionalized contest.

"We know that we will go through this national exercise every four years and that we need tolerance, patience and understanding so that the process is free of acrimony, hate speech and bad faith. There will certainly be conflicts in all competitions, but fortunately democracy has built-in mechanisms to deal with such conflicts, "he said.

2016 NDC Results

Recalling the results of the NDC in the 2016 election, Bagbin said that "it is very humiliating for a ruling party to lose nearly a million votes and that shows that our party in the government was in disarray ".

"It is time for the NDC to act differently and to achieve new results. If we continue to do the same things again, we will continue to reap the same ancient results again and again. "

He said that before the 2016 elections, the NDC base had suffered a lot from the many years of neglect. What was even more painful was the fact that the party immediately lost its political power. Activities.

"It is obvious that the ruling party was not in tune with the government and the government did not give it the rightful place," he said.

"Strangely," he said, "we heard that the party did not have money, but we also saw the summit live in opulence, so where would it be? , was it? "

"That's why we saw a withdrawal of votes in the 2016 election. Base members no longer believed what their leaders had said and done," he said.

Message

On what he was bringing, Mr. Bagbin said that the country had decided, after a long military term, to be governed by democratic governance.

In the same vein, he said that the first step in the process was to organize the party so that "when the ruling party is responsible for meeting the needs of the people".

"Our followers must believe in us. We need to organize ourselves by creating effective and functional structures for the party from the local, regional and national levels, "he said.

Knowing that the sections and constituencies are the party's base, he said that he would ensure that resources are allocated to them and that they are empowered.

"In terms of capacity building, resource allocation and empowerment, this should be done at the branch level first. We have adopted the top down approach for far too long and it is time to turn the tide, "he said.

Ghana rich nation

He also said that it was sad to note that Ghana was a rich country and yet its people were starving.

"What is afflicting this continent is mental poverty, so we need to free our minds from this syndrome," he said.

He regretted that, in recent times, the national discourse has focused on the challenges of violence, corruption, attitude and behavior of politicians or religious leaders, going against collective efforts to develop the country.

He said these signs were not good for Ghana "because everything that leads to violence is widespread in the country.

We must apply the brakes. A policy without principles, a wealth without work and a knowledge without character lead to conflict and development. "