The Member of Parliament for Lower Manya Constituency in the Eastern Region, Mr. Michael Teye Nyaunu has backed former President Rawlings’ calls for party executives to reject President Mills ahead of the 2012 elections. In his view, the call was long overdue because the President had failed the rank and file of the party, forcing many members to defect to the opposition New Patriotic Party and the Conventions Peoples Party. The MP who has proven to be an avowed critic of the president, accused the President and his vice - Mr John Dramani Mahama - of using the government to nurture the CPP and bring it to power. “Where did his Excellency come from? What is his root? CPP! What are John Mahama’s roots? CPP. What are the Minister for Finance's roots? CPP. What of the other ministers? Nobody has to tell us this, nobody has to tell us this. We see the NDC giving way gradually to the CPP. We know what we are talking about,” he lamented. The Lower Manya MP noted, “We have no other party to join, all that we have is NDC so when we see that people of CPP origins who helped us one way or the other are rather being given more important positions and are being treated as more important, then those who founded the NDC, do you think we shall be happy?" He said the discontent expressed by many people after he (Nyaunu) toured almost all the constituencies in the country, is a clear indication that the party was becoming unpopular. But the Propaganda Secretary of the NDC Richard Quashigah has expressed disappointment at the comments of his colleague saying there are laid down rules that party members need to follow if they want to support a particular candidate to challenge the President or express their displeasure at certain actions or inactions of same. He said as far as he was concerned, President Mills and Vice President John Mahama are not doing anything to undermine the NDC that will also lead to the resurgence of the CPP as Mr Nyaunu claimed. He maintained the MP's comments and insinuations were unfair and unwarranted and ought not come from a Member of Parliament. "I want to believe that competition must be healthy…it must be done in a manner that will engender the effective forward march of the party,” he asserted. He said party members who disagree with others can express their disagreement through the party's structures, emphasising the need for members of the party to concentrate on the positive achievements of the government instead of derailing the party’s electoral fortunes in the media. Asked whether he thought such comments could hurt the party, Mr Quashigah said “the NDC is as solid as ever. The NDC has gone through some challenging times before, but the NDC has always remained resolute. The NDC has always remained united at the end of the day." He challenged Mr Teye Nyaunu to be dignified enough to stand by the comments when he is hauled before the party's national executives to substantiate his allegations. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana