Accra, May 17, GNA - The National Reform Party (NRP) said on Wednesday that it is not engaged in unity talks with the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

A statement signed in Accra by Mr Kyeretwie Opoku, Interim General Secretary, said: "We have never held any such talks at any level. The NDC has never approached us We have never approached the NDC." He said statements made by President Jerry Rawlings and Vice President John Atta Mills at the NDC congress have been widely interpreted as calls for National Reform Party members to "rejoin" the NDC.

However, it said, the NRP is not an NDC splinter group. "It is true that five out of nine members of our National Working Committee were once front-line NDC members. However, the impetus to build a party based on a new politics came from a very broad cross section of society.

"Accordingly, at all levels, Reform currently mobilises progressives from all the different political traditions, as well as people who have never before associated with any political party."

NRP said the last time those of them who were once NDC members met with NDC leadership was eighteen months ago in October 1998. "We do not want the NDC to approach us. There is no basis today for unity talks between Reform and the NDC. The situation in the NDC has deteriorated beyond salvation."

The statement said the Ho congress was convened in the midst of the worst economic crisis in a generation. It also "signalled the consolidation of (President) Jerry Rawlings' personal dominance over the NDC and his intention to control that party and the state machine even after he formally leaves office.

NRP said far from a spirit of reconciliation, President Rawlings' appeal for reconciliation reflects only his desire to hang on to power at all costs and his rising panic about the NDC's chances in December.