BY : DARI KWABENA MATHEW (+233555395925)
The national executive, the Council of Elders and the Minority Caucus of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have resolved to put behind all differences that arose following the change in the party’s leadership in Parliament.
By a resolution, the party has decided to stand solidly behind the new Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and his team to allow the Minority Caucus to promote the interest of the party and win the 2024 general election.
The resolution was reached after a closed-door meeting between the national leadership of the party and the Minority Caucus in Parliament yesterday.
The meeting was jointly called by the Council of Elders, the national leadership and the Minority Caucus to announce a resolution of what was perceived as an “existentially threatening crisis” affecting the party.
Attendees
The meeting attracted about 120 Minority MPs, including those who signed a petition which was presented to the Council of Elders of the party to prevail on the national leadership to reconsider its decision to effect a change in the party’s leadership in Parliament and consult the Minority Caucus.
At the meeting were the National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah; the General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey and the members of the Council of Elders, led by Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu.
Others were a former Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho; Christine Amoako-Nuamah and Aanaa Ennin.
From the new Minority leadership were Dr Forson, the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah; the Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, and the First Deputy Minority Whip, Ibrahim Ahmed.
The MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr Dominic Ayine, also spoke on behalf of the Minority MPs who initially disagreed with the decision of the party’s leadership to effect the changes in their leadership in Parliament.
During the meeting to announce the outcome of the meeting, the members of the party frequently sang the party’s anthem and revolutionary songs as a show of solidarity.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Ayine said the NDC now stood united since the party had the people who could stand behind them to win elections in 2024.
He said those who thought that the differences that emerged following the change in parliamentary leadership constituted an existential crisis that was going to decimate the party or cement cleavages that emerged along regional, ethnic and tribal lines “today is your answer.”
“We have moved away from that crisis and we are emerging strong so we can go forward,” he said.
He explained that when some aggrieved Minority MPs sent a petition to the Council of Elders of the party, the petition was neither against the new nor former leadership but about how the party could improve its consultation process with the Minority Caucus.
“I want to thank all my colleagues; we are going to stand solidly behind Ato Forson’s leadership and there will be no turning back from what has happened today,” he stated.
The Chairman of the Council of Elders, Alhaji Iddrisu, expressed happiness that the excitement that characterised the atmosphere at the end of the meeting portrayed that the “problem has been resolved.”
“We do not have any problem now; our only problem is to win the 2024 elections,” he said.
Mr Nketiah also expressed happiness that the challenges that arose from the announcement of a new leadership of the party’s caucus in Parliament had all been resolved.
With all concerns being addressed, he said the party believed that as part of truth emanating from classes of opinions due to the challenges the party had gone through in the past few days it had produced “very beneficial results.”
He said the party had now developed a new framework to ensure succession in the party’s parliamentary leadership henceforth.
“It was work in progress but it had not been completed and I think that these current challenges have brought the issues on the front burners and one of the takeaways of this meeting is to go quickly and expedite action on establishing a framework on running our caucus in Parliament in the future,” Mr Nketiah said.
Appreciation
Mr Nketiah thanked the outgoing parliamentary leadership for the work that they had done.
“We have come to a point where the emerging challenges require emerging solution and that is what we have done. If you listen to our revolutionary music, it says that cadres may go, cadres will come but the revolution will continue.
“We have cautioned the new leadership that the record of performance of the outgoing leadership serves as a challenge and yardstick for the measurement of their own performance and they have also accepted the challenge,” he said.
