[ad_1]
The editor-in-chief of the Daily Dispatch newspaper believes the former first lady may abandon her presidential ambition after the death of her husband.
Benjamin Emmanuel Ephson said that Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings can do this “out of respect for her husband.”
“Or maybe Ms. Rawlings can decide to go ahead and get votes of sympathy,” he said.
Ephson told JoyNews that the former president’s disappearance may affect the political landscape [especially in the upcoming elections].
He argues that Mr. Rawlings’ base of support will split, with some electorates voting for the PNP, while others will vote for the NDC and some of them will also vote for Ms. Rawlings if she decides to participate.
“I don’t think all the people who love Mr. Rawlings will vote for NDC. I suspect that a good percentage can vote NPP.
“Because Rawlings feels very comfortable within the hierarchy of the PNP from the president down. And I suspect that perhaps a quarter or a third of Rawlings’ staunch support could vote for the PNP, ”he said.
He added that the former president was a great politician whose achievements and contributions in the country’s political history cannot be forgotten.
“It is a huge political tree in this country. He lived with political reality. When he came to power in 1982, he had these socialist ideas.
“But the ones he brought on board; like Kwesi Botchwey and Ahwoi, they let him know that he will have to turn to the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), so he abandoned those ideas, “said Ephson.
The former president died on Thursday around 10:10 am at the age of 73.
Mr. Rawlings died at the Korle-Bu University Hospital, where he was receiving treatment after a brief illness.
Mr. Rawling was born on June 22, 1947. He ruled the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979.
He was last seen in public on October 19, during the final funeral rites that led to the burial of his mother, Victoria Agbotui.
Following his passing, President Akufo-Addo declared a seven-day national mourning and further ordered that all of the country’s flags be flown at half-mast.
The NDC, led by John Dramani Mahama, also suspended its political activities after Rawlings’ death.
