Accra, Feb. 28, GNA - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday said the intended demonstrations by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the fuel price hikes are "morally wrong". "The NDC should never place itself in a position where its political strategy implies that the deliberate attempt to work against the economic well-being of the country, is a proper objective," the NPP said in a statement signed by Mr Kwadwo Afari, Press Secretary.

The statement said the intended demonstrations clearly confirmed that the NDC intended "to politicise the country's energy problems, polarise the country and carry their crusade for political power into the streets in an attempt to cut off reasoned debate on oil supply and pricing". The NPP said the arguments for the intended demonstrations were not based on any economic fact. "Indeed, an ordinary hawker at Makola Market knows that you could not buy at a higher price and sell cheaper. It simply does not make sense."

The NPP said it was the "ill-considered NDC government's energy policies that have contributed to the current economic problems". The statement said petroleum products constituted 95 per cent of the country's energy needs. For the NDC therefore to try and make the Kufuor Administration the scapegoat for the current high cost of oil, it said, "was not only hypocritical but also a cheap political gimmick and a ploy being used as a genuine economic problem to cause disturbances in order to seize the nation".