In what can pass for a shift from a previous position of excessive confidence steeped in platform rhetoric, to modesty, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) now considers the outcome of the pending verdict in the election petition as a 50-50 chance for either party.
It is a glaringly humbling position, differing markedly from the previous overconfidence of the party that the petitioners have no case and could not win the petition they lodged with the Supreme Court.
Nana Ato Dadzie, a lawyer of many years standing and former Chief of Staff in the Rawlings administration, who is the spokesperson for the NDC legal team in the election petition, conceded that the case could go either way.
He described as delusionary any confidence by either of the parties that the case would be in their favour, a departure from the previous fiery utterances hinged on overconfidence by the NDC and President John Mamaha, the first Respondent.
Nana Ato Dadzie�s last Saturday contribution on Joy FM News File programme reminded observers of the rhetoric of NDC frontline players when the idea of going to court was broached by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) petitioners Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
While some NDC elements thought the petitioners could not garner enough evidence to make it to the court before the deadline, others were of the opinion that it was just a wasteful exercise which would be abandoned midstream.
The acerbic �any idiot can go to court� remark by the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, appeared to have dwarfed the flurry of rhetorics which permeated the atmosphere at the time.
Nana Ato Dadzie�s interesting remarks were hinged upon, according to him, last Wednesday�s clarification of issues in the addresses by the parties when they made their last appearance before the Supreme Court justices prior to the August 29 judgment date.
Upon a sober reflection, the NDC legal team spokesperson said the case was still wide open, with the possibility that the judges could even give a verdict outside the addresses of the parties in the case.
Being the first election petition hearing in the country�s legal history, Ghanaians had the opportunity of understanding at first hand, what it meant when judges posed questions to lawyers representing petitioners and respondents alike; a procedure which saw viewers of the proceedings on television wondering what it all meant.
All lawyers representing the parties took turns to field questions on issues like the KPMG report, pink sheets exhibits and case law.
Although bookmakers have made their permutations, Nana Ato Dadzie claimed that anything could happen and that jubilations at this stage were premature for either of the parties.
When judgment is eventually delivered on August 29, 2013, many Ghanaians would understand better, the workings of the Constitution and the powers it has bestowed upon state institutions whose efficiency and strength define the quality of governance in any given country.
As the date for judgment draws near, all manner of projections are being made as to which way the judgment would go; but as Nana Ato Dadzie said, it could be anybody�s game.
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