General Secretary for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, says the party will win the 2012 general elections whether the founder of the party, Mr Jerry Rawlings campaigns for it or not. He said he was optimistic that with or without the support of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, the Mills-led government will win the elections. Reacting to suggestions from sections of the public that the Mills administration would have to beg for forgiveness from the NDC’s founder for peace to prevail in the NDC if it is to retain power, Mr Asiedu Nketia said that was utterly unnecessary. Begging Mr Rawlings, he maintained, will be an unnecessary evil. On what basis should we go and beg Rawlings? On what? he wondered. Speaking in a studio interview on MultiTV’s current affairs programme BADWAM, Mr Nketia said: If you contest an election and you lose, [it] does not mean your people have rejected you; it only means that your timing is wrong. The relationship between the Rawlings family and their party grew sour after Mrs Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings suffered a humiliating defeat in her bid to unseat President Mills as leader of the party – and sections of the public have called on government to make peace with the Rawlingses by going to beg for forgiveness. However, the NDC’s General Secretary says If Mr Rawlings is angry and does not want to campaign for the NDC in 2012, so be it, maintaining the government and party will not beg him. He explained that even if the party wanted to beg the Rawlingses, his duty as a General Secretary did not include brokering peace between the founder’s faction and that of President Mills. Rather, he said Mr Rawlings as head of the Council of Elders of the party is to ensure there is peace in the NDC. Reacting to a request made by a caller onto the show asking Asiedu Nketiah to broker peace between the Rawlings and government, his response was that the NDC was a huge party and did not belong to any individual. He maintained that the NDC had a council of elders whose duties include ensuring the party was in a good shape and devoid of internal conflict. He dismissed assertions that the party was not united. The NDC, he insisted, is not disunited, and added the party is guided by a constitution which is bigger than any individual. If the party continues to be a democratic party and continues to elect its leaders through voting, anyone who wins or loses is in the interest of the party, insisted.