Mills must be changed, he cannot lead NDC to victory in 2012 - Rawlings loyalist

Ras Mubarak thinks President Mills is not a perfect candidate for 2012 In spite of getting interest rates down, Prof Mills has not been able to turn round the Ghanaian economy. Health Insurance is in trouble and he has been weak on national security. Ras Mubarak A Rawlings loyalist, Mohammed Abdulai Mubarak, popularly called Ras Mubarak, has warned of dire consequences if the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) fields President Mills as its presidential candidate for the 2012 elections. He said the President “no longer has grassroots support and is certainly unpopular with young voters. President Mills has failed to rise to the occasion. He would not have the support of many members of the party across the country. There are irrefutable reasons why he cannot lead the NDC into victory in 2012.” Ras Mubarak said this in article he wrote last week and sent to media houses. He said of the NDC is careless and reckless enough to put up president Mills against any candidate in the opposition New Patriotic Party, the NPP will come back to power undeservedly. “The NDC needs a candidate who when elected President in 2012 can give hope to all Ghanaians, someone who can reconnect with lost constituencies in the NDC. “Our country deserves a President who can ‘think anew the theory for a 21st century social democracy’ and get things done whilst the sun is still up,” he wrote. Ras Mubarak contested the National Youth Organiser position of the ruling party and lost. Following the defeat, he claimed the winner, Ludwig Hlordze, had the tacit support of President Mills, adding, mobile phones and money were distributed to delegates and that accounted for his defeat. Last year, speculations were rife that there was a rift in the ruling party regarding the presidential candidate for 2012. To settle the issue, the President maintained he would run in 2012 but critics such as Ras Mubarak think that will spell doom for the party. The National Youth Organiser aspirant, confirming his call for the fielding of a different candidate, said the President had failed the party and the people of Ghana. “Prof. Mills' government has failed to exploit its early opportunities and carry the nation along. The government has alienated public support and there is a sense of unease even among Prof. Mills' uncritical supporters. Government has been shooting from the hip on a number of issues.” “In spite of getting interest rates down, Prof Mills has not been able to turn round the Ghanaian economy. Health Insurance is in trouble and he has been weak on national security. We are still far from being able to finance our development and have turned to the IMF/World Bank for the same bail outs and wrongheaded guidelines that haven't brought us much since independence. Ghanaians are still paying high taxes in return for inefficient social services,” he stated tersely. He told Peace FM Tuesday, that the President had marginalised some experienced hands in the ruling party “because they have not been sycophantic enough”. Touching on the many reported cases of protests and violent seizures of public facilities by irate youth of the NDC, Ras Mubarak said “The spates of peaceful and violent protests against the government by youths of the NDC are a verdict on Prof. Mills' failures. His reputation as an honest man is not in doubt. Even his most virulent critics know that he is a man of integrity, but he is a disastrous leader.” He said there was nothing wrong with the protests, for “Civil disobedience is permissible under our laws.” He warns of serious consequences if some four NDC youth who were arrested at Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa for locking up offices of the National Health Insurance Scheme are prosecuted. Referring to the President’s mantra that he is moving slowly but surely, the avowed critic said “Moving slowly is incompatible with our reputation as a party that gets things done, it is unworthy of the NDC.” Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana