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Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy Minister of Information and head of government communication team, has hinted that President John Atta Mills pulled out of this year�s presidential debates being organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) because the government is not convinced about the neutrality of the organisers. Giving more reasons why President Mills and his vice John Mahama chickened out of the debates, Mr Ablakwa said the organizers failed to consult the presidency to get its input into the programme and therefore they were not convinced that the organizers would be fair to them. Speaking on Joy FM�s News File programme on Saturday, the deputy minister was of the opinion that with the president coming in as the incumbent, the other candidates would likely gang up on him. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) officially put on record through a press statement last week that it would simply not partake in the all-important event. A statement signed by the NDC Propaganda Secretary, Richard Quashigah on Tuesday said the �NDC wishes to reaffirm its decision not to participate in this year�s presidential and vice presidential debate being sponsored by the IEA�. �The NDC government has previously drawn the IEA�s attention to the fact that no sitting president or vice president in the 4th Republic has participated in these debates. It is the party�s position to uphold that convention. �The NDC wishes the IEA well and will continue to collaborate with it in other matters of mutual interest,� the statement said. However, contrary to Ablakwa�s position that the presidency was not consulted in the planning of the programme, it emerged that the NDC as a party was involved in the preparations for the programme. Speculations were rife that President Mills declined to participate in the event in order to avoid a head-on debate with Nana Akufo-Addo, who would likely tear him into shreds. President Mills had as well snubbed an invitation to the �Evening Encounter with a Presidential candidate�, also organised by the IEA, to provide an individual platform and a unique opportunity for each of the presidential candidates to present to the electorate their vision and strategies on how they intended to govern the country. The NDC had over the years remained an active participant in the IEA Presidential and Vice Presidential debates since the year 2004 when the party was in opposition. John Atta Mills, who was then the NDC Presidential candidate, had often showed up at such debates to eloquently explain his party�s manifesto and his plans for achieving a �Better Ghana Agenda.� His party had also touted the integrity of the IEA and the crucial necessity for such debates, but now it made a big U-turn, which raised questions about the integrity of the ruling party. Prior to the statement from the NDC Propaganda Secretary, DAILY GUIDE had picked clear signals that President Mills was not enthused about attending this year�s event. Advisors of the president had counseled him against engaging in such an activity. A youth group in the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Team of Popular Youth (TOPY), had first given the hint when it sent a petition to the IEA to question the integrity and neutrality of individuals who had been constituted to regulate the encounter. Another member of the party�s communications team, who writes under the pseudonym Margeret Jackson, posted a similar article on ghanaweb.com in which �he� made disparaging remarks about certain individuals including Rev. Dr. Mensa Otabil, General Overseer of ICGC, who is also the chairman of the committee; Jean Mensah, Executive Director of IEA; Prof. Ivan Addae Mensah, Chairman of the Petroleum Commission; Prof. Stephen Adei, former Rector of GIMPA and Kabral Blay Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission, labelling all of them as pro-NPP. Others include Justice Emile Short, former Commissioner of CHRAJ; Maulvi Wahab Adam, Ameer in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission; Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin, Executive Director of ABANTU for Development; Kofi Asamoah, General Secretary of TUC; Tony Oteng Gyasi, former president of AGI/Managing Director-Tropical Cables and Prof. Esi Sutherland-Addy, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.