<<Print>>

The furore that accompanied the open dissenting view expressed by Eastern Regional Minister, Victor Smith, against the possible choice of Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur as running mate of President John Dramani Mahama, after the latter nominated him as Vice President of the Republic of Ghana is not about to die out soon. Ambassador Victor Smith, last Thursday overtly lashed out against the nomination of Mr Amissah-Arthur as Vice Presidential nominee, arguing that he cannot win a single vote for the National Democratic Congress in December. Though the former ambassador has rendered an unqualified apology to the President for the comments, arguing he was �misconstrued� in a statement released on Friday, the NDC MP for Adenta, Hon Kojo Adu Asare, believes the right measure to �cure the mischief� that Mr Smith sought to create per his remarks, is for President Mahama to be �assertive� on the regional minister. The Adenta MP argues that the entire authority of the president risks being undermined if he (Mahama) does not act swiftly by asserting his power on the situation. He believes some people within government are likely to take a cue from the former Ambassador�s comments if Mr. Smith is not properly sanction. �I think subordination is important in this matter�and once it is defied at this point, tomorrow it can happen...Before you realize, your entire authority is undermined and you can�t function properly,� he said. He was contributing to discussions on Joy FM�s news analysis programme, Newsfile on Saturday. The Governor of the Bank of Ghana and former deputy Minister of Finance in the Rawlings administration was nominated last week to help President Mahama to complete the unexpired term of the departed president, John Evans Atta Mills. However, moments after the announcement, the Eastern Regional Minister virtually ruled out the chances of the ruling NDC of winning the 2012 general elections. Mr Smith, Ghana's immediate past Ambassador to the Czech Republic, said though the nominee was a fine technocrat, he was not a marketable candidate for the 2012 NDC presidential as a running mate. �I have known this man for quite a long time since his days as a deputy minister of finance in the 1990s and we were all walking in the corridors of the Castle. He does not exude that charisma and passion for a position of a running mate�I don't think Mr Amissah-Arthur will bring any fortune to the NDC because he is not much known even to the rank and file of the NDC which he is a member of, let alone the general populace...As a party, we are supposed to go to congress on September 1 and possibly endorse President John Mahama as our presidential candidate and by the end of the same month, the presidential candidate will be required to nominate his running mate for the December general elections and the party will have just two months to campaign so if the new presidential candidate does not consider someone who is very much known and could appeal to the voting public, I am afraid the party will be treading on very dangerous grounds...Elections are about numbers and we need to get somebody who can bring that to complement our 2012 presidential and running mate ticket and not anyone else because we have a short time to go for the elections,� he told journalists in Koforidua. Later on several radio platforms, he reiterated his earlier assertions when he insisted that �We need to ensure victory. We don�t need to gamble�. Our party cannot gamble with a relatively unknown person...People have been very active politically. Some of us have suffered so many inconveniences to bring this party this far...I don�t have a problem with him being a technocrat, but when it comes to bringing numbers to the table I have serious reservations that he will complement the charisma and quality of President John Mahama�His credentials can�t win an election. You need to bring votes to the table�.I�m not comfortable, I can tell you clearly. I have made that point to leadership. Amissah-Arthur for the longer time is a weakness. It will not help us the way I see politics has been done in this country. If you ask this guy to go, I can tell you then we are gambling, then we have reached the gambling stage.�