Politics of Wednesday, 27 July 2005

Source: jfm

NDC supporters storm Rawlings? residence

There was a near uproar at the residence of former President Jerry Rawlings today (Wednesday) when some party supporters stormed there this afternoon.

The group numbering about one hundred besieged Mr. Rawlings? home, demanding answers for the hold up of the NDC?s conference to elect a candidate to contest the Odododiodio by-election.

A court order today placed an injunction on the NDC?s conference to elect a candidate for the party.

The angry party activists believed to be supporters of Walid Laryea one of the contenders, said they wanted the founder of the party to declare Mr. Laryea the candidate for the party in order that the party can meet the electoral Commission?s deadline for filing of nominations.

Filing of nominations with the EC ends on Thursday.

Police personnel were sent to calm the situation, nevertheless the angry supporters managed to heckle an aide to the former President, Victor Smith.

?When they have taken the matter to court, are they expecting the filing of nominations to be postponed or will it continue tomorrow? I don?t know what is going on at the moment. You are the senior people, sit down and put your heads together to solve this problem. You people should put your feet down and solve the problem once and for all,? some members of the crowd said.

Former President Rawlings did not address the teeming supporters.

Later Victor Smith told Joy News that the former president could not say anything to the supporters since he was not part of the decision making body of the NDC.

?They were here yesterday morning and I told them to exercise patience because there is a lot of meetings going on and they went away. They have come back again from the party headquarters because the primaries could not come on in the morning so they were getting impatient as the deadline for filling of nominations is getting nearer.

They are trying to get former president Rawlings who is the founder of the party to come and talk with them. I don?t know what they want from him, whether they are trying to get him to make a decision which I?m trying to explain to them that it cannot be done? the former president on his own cannot make that decision,? he said.