The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr Dan Botchwey has described the former President, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings as someone who is not in tune with current socio-political dynamics.

He stated that the time has come for the former president to realise that the defeat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2000 elections, was a protest vote against his 20 years of dictatorship and political misrule in the country. Describing Rawlings as a yesterday’s man, the NPP General Secretary observed that it pains him that the former president still lives under his delusions of grandeur adding that given the way the NDC misruled the country, there was no way that the people of Ghana who constitute the electorate were going to vote for the NDC to come to power anytime soon.

Mr Botwe’s remark was in reaction to statements attributed to the former president, that now that Prof John Evans Atta Mills has been elected a presidential candidate of the party, the real battle has begun and that the NDC stands in good stead to kick the NPP out of power in the 2004 elections. This is because according to him the NPP are liars and do not deserve to be in power.

The former president, who is also founder of the NDC after the landslide victory of Mills over Dr Botchwey, invited his arch foe, Dr Obed Asamoah, who is the party’s chairman, and urged him to join hands with him to kill the NPP Government, which he described as “the real enemies of the people.” Mr Botwe reiterated that President J.A. Kufour is never afraid of meeting Prof. Mills in the 2004 elections and would even hand him a more humiliating defeat, come the next elections.

He advised the NDC to do their homework well since they would be given a good run for their money in 2004. He stressed that it was erroneous to think that the NPP was backing Dr Kwesi Botchwey to emerge as the NDC flagbearer for 2004 adding “in any case we were ready to meet whoever merged as flagbearer of the NDC. He said anyone who thinks Prof. Mills is the candidate to beat Kufour in 2004, would be kidding because even when Prof Mills had all state machinery at his disposal in 2000, he could not beat Kufour, and so wondered how Mills would be able to do that.

He maintained that Kufour’s popularity had increased since becoming President, adding “This is why I don’t agree with those who claim that Mills is the man to beat Kufour in 2004”.