A deputy minister of finance Hon Fifi Kwetey has reaffirmed his endorsement of President John Atta Mills for the 2012 flagbearership of the National Democratic Congress. He is totally convinced that the president is best placed to lead the NDC to victory in the next elections.

Speaking to The Catalyst in an exclusive interview in his office on Friday, he stated categorically that former President Jerry John Rawlings will not be surprise about the stance he has taken in this contest. “The Rawlings I know will not be surprised about my position, because he knows me to be a person of conviction” adding that for him to do anything, he sticks to his principles. A known confidant of former President Rawlings, Hon Fifi Kwetey's open support for President Mills and a call by him for NDC delegates not to show disrespect to the former President but to adopt the principle of positive defiance in electing President Mills as the party's 2012 flagbearer instead of Mrs Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has raised some eyebrows even in the Rawlings household.

But the defiant deputy minister has this to say. “For me, being a Rawlings loyalist or a Rawlings adherent just means believing in the principles of Rawlings.” And the principles of Rawlings most importantly, for me are the principles of courage; courage to stand for what you believe regardless of the consequences- ability to put nation ahead of self as he demonstrated and this led to the June 4 Uprising, readiness to sacrifice oneself in order to bring about a dream that can benefit people, to stand for things that can benefit people. So courage, selflessness sacrifice- for me those are the three fundamental principles.

“If you want to sum those up then you can define them to mean what he himself [Rawlings] has referred to again and again as positive defiance which is simply the ability to stand for your convictions regardless of the consequences. That for me defines Rawlings and if I say I'm a Rawlings adherent or a Rawlings loyalist, my point is that politics must be done on the basis of conviction, not personality but principles. Because personalities can go wrong but those principles must be adhered to regardless of whatever happens.” Asked whether he thinks the former President will be comfortable with his current stance against his wife's bid for the flagbearership slot of the party, the deputy finance minister said he believes the former will not be comfortable with his decision. He stated that the former President would have wished he [Hon Fifi Kwetey] stayed on his side and probably supported Mrs Rawlings but he could not.

Many have been of the view that former President Rawlings does not truly support his wife's bid and that he has just recently decided to use his wife's bid to register his stated displeasure against President Mills and his government. But Hon Fifi Kwetey disagrees. He pointed out that if the former President himself has been on platforms declaring that his wife is the way to go and that it is clear President Mills has failed to deliver and therefore there must be a change in the party's leadership for his wife to become the leader of the party by even means, then he clearly shown his preference. “Now if that is the case, then some of us must as a matter of principle disagree to that preference completely, and have the courage to be able to tell the founder that we disagree with your preference. So we disagree completely and as I said, disagreement is not a mark of betrayal. It's also not a mark of disrespect or disloyalty,” he stated.

The doubtful deputy minister postulated that for former President Rawlings to support his wife's candidature at this time of the life of the NDC, it could mean that he is privy to some information that makes him sure that Mrs Rawlings will win the 2012 election, “which the rest of us are not privy to.” “That shows that, he thinks that the most famous person in the NDC is his wife compared to Prof. Mills. That is his belief! He also thinks the only way Mills can win the primary is through bribery of delegates, apart from that he can't win because his wife is more famous.” Hon. Fifi Kwetey however said he believes his mentor is wrong on this score. He told this paper that he totally disagrees with the former President. According to him, the fact that there have been complaints by some that they are not seeing the kind of activities promised by way of getting contracts, jobs and that people's lives have not changed drastically in two and half years does not mean that they will give their mandate to Mrs. Rawlings.

He said if his party founder thinks that the cry of the people will let his wife win at the Sunyani congress, then he is completely wrong, adding that NDC supporters may be complaining but they are under no illusion that a change of president or leader before 2012 will better their lot.

Hon Fifi Kwetey said President Mills is the one who has been there, marketed and won a major election in 2008 and that the chances of him winning the next elections is far, far brighter than Mrs. Rawlings'. He said the first priority of supporters of the party is political power. Therefore any personality that is deemed to be a stumbling block in their way will be pushed aside by them in order that they can achieve that collective aim. “I want to make this statement; if one day it happens that even the founder has stood in the way of victory of the NDC, the NDC supporters will shove him aside in order to go in for victory because they want power more than himself. So, no matter what happens, they will shove him aside and go for victory. It's simple. The desire to hold on to power is paramount. No individual is more important to NDC now than power.”

According to him, you can be their mother or father but if you stand in their way of power they will push you aside. “So now, they are ready to push him [Rawlings] aside and after that they will come back for him. They want him off the way so that they can get power. No matter how they love him, they will push him off for power,” he stressed.