<<Print>>In a radio interview on Accra based Asempa FM on Wednesday afternoon [November 27, 2019], Mr Blay argued that local level elections have always been political clandestinely and that President Akufo-Addo was only seeking to make it legal.
Get Digital Versions of Graphic Publications by downloading Graphic NewsPlus Here. Also available in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store
But if other people are campaigning otherwise, and the President decides to take a step back, that will be okay but it would be a "pity."
"I think the president [Akufo-Addo] is a person who listens, it may even be painful and he will say that for now, if people are saying so, I may reconsider that, I don't know but that is the President and his Cabinet. If they decide that, the party itself has decided that let's go the full hog, its a good idea, even if we go and 75 per cent do not vote for us and about 60 per cent do, to me its a victory," Mr Blay said in the live radio interview monitored by Graphic Online.
Asked about what his advise about the referendum will be for the President, Mr Blay said:
"Its leadership, leadership is not just deciding to go on with what you think you are convinced about in certain cases, sometimes you listen, and say I wish I will go this way but if the people in this country say it's not just right for me to move ahead of you..., I will later on come back to it, its a pity, I will miss my fufu maybe today, but actually that is one of the good things that the President of the Republic has come out with it. I [Freddie Blay] was so glad over it and I think it is so good, some of us who believe in democracy, who believe in partisan involvement in the management of this country, of course some people say that party politics sometimes have a little problem here and there but they say that democracy may be a very bad government except that it has no other alternative."
Asked for a clearer answer on what his advise will be on whether the referendum should be withdrawn or go ahead Mr Blay said, "I will reserve that [answer] for now but it will be painful for me, and I feel very sad... as I said this is very listening president, he will listen to people and quite a number of people, very well placed have come out with that, some have done it very nicely, others have crudely done it without any, to the point of almost being confrontational but maybe they have not thought of it very well, they've not looked at it, analyse it."
"But as I said, the only analysis that I have listen to from the other side is what Ofosu Ampofo came to sit here and I felt sorry and said oh! is that all, is that what we want, you are talking about there must be repeal of some other Articles and I say these are all consequential or related Articles, 248, 246 and so forth and so on. It will be worked out so that it will give good essence and good substance to allow the idea of allowing political parties to participate."
Advertisement
Mr Blay agreed that the present situation on the ground indicates that a 'YES' vote in the referendum might be difficult but he insisted he will rather go for the political party participation in local level elections.
"I will rather go for the political parties because we may be giving lip service, it's hypocrisy to the zenith point, being hypocrisy, that's what I'm saying, what do you mean by that, how do we even go to canvass. look if me I want to go and canvass for a position, a member of the district assembly in the community and so forth, definitely I will get some people to campaign for me, I won't go from household to household, I can't do that, this is not a Greek Republic where all of us will gather at one place and then we will do it that way. The society is a bit sophisticated now, population has increased and for that matter, you'll need some kind of organisation to back you, whereby it will sensitise opinions and make it good and somehow political parties has the capacity to do that now. But if people want to say that they want to vote without political parties, its chaos that they want, they don't want organisation..."
"I will agree if the President decides with his Cabinet, maybe we take time again and do a little more engagement to persuade the NDC people, the younger ones, not their leadership, not the old people who themselves don't want change, Ahwoi and co, they won't change, they belong to the old order, brilliant people in the party, yes, but the idea of saying that don't get political people involved in it, I think is outrageous."
Touching on Professor Kwamena Ahwoi's credentials in local governance and the fact that he is "don" in the area and therefore his position of a 'NO' vote which is said to have greatly influenced the NDC leadership to change their position from a 'YES' vote to that of 'NO', Mr Blay said: "that's what people say, but I definitely poopoo it, I say, the idea belongs to the old order. Its a dinosaur, so please this one, they've never believed in political parties anyway from the beginning, they belong to the coup legacy, they prefer to come to power through coup and want to maintain the power because they have been forced to now to agree that we should do party politics. Present yourself to the people, accountability sake, for people to vote for you, to agree with you that either they like you or not, if they don't like you they vote you out based on the political manifesto that you presented to the people and that is exactly what the NPP has done under Nana Akufo-Addo.
more to follow soon...
