The Member of Parliament for Asutifi South, Hon. Collins Dauda, has expressed the opinion that if the dismissal of former National Security Minister Mr. Francis Poku, is meant to bring in a hard liner as against the more moderate Francis Poku, then the ruling government is badly mistaken. He has said that the NDC intends to organize many demonstrations this election year, and if the dismissal of Mr. Poku is meant to bring in a hardliner to crush these demonstrations, then the NDC was ready. Collins Dauda was speaking to The Daily Searchlight on Sunday on issues arising out of the dismissal of the former National Security Minister. He said that if NPP professes to be a lawful party that believes in democracy, the freedom of the people, then he would find it hard to believe that anybody would orchestrate the dismissal of Mr. Poku just to bring in a hard liner. “I cannot see why people must stand in the way of people who want to demonstrate, to express displeasure at certain things in the country,” Hon. Dauda said. He said that if that was the agenda behind the dismissal of Mr. Poku, then the government was in trouble. “You see if that is the agenda then they are in trouble, because there are going to be more demonstrations, in the election year, and the way the opposition is determined, we are determined more than ever before to carry out demonstrations to express our displeasure about anything that government does in the country, and if they are trying to bring in somebody who would try to stop us from carrying out our constitutional right to demonstrate, then they must be prepared for something worse,” he said. Hon. Collins Dauda said that if that is the motive, then the government is probably looking for an open confrontation, between the government and the opposition. “We are ready to do that, if that is the agenda of getting Francis Poku out then the person they are going to bring would certainly have nothing but open confrontation between government and the opposition and we are ready to carry that out,” he said. He warned the government not to forget that they are in charge of National Security, and the peace of this country. “They would be held responsible for not ensuring that there is peace in this country. It is the responsibility of President Kufuor to ensure that, not the opposition. If you have a National Security Advisor who understands and would not support any move that would fracture the peace, and you rather want somebody who would promote the fractioning of the nation, the fractioning of peace in this country, then it means that you don’t even know why you are there. That is the first responsibility, to ensure peace, because without peace nothing would ever come. So if you have a National Security Minister who advises you on how to have peace in the country, and you think because of that you are sacking him to bring someone who is hard on the opposition, then you must be ready for confrontation, we are ready for them! If that I the case then we are ready for them,” he said. Source: The Daily Searchlight