Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party have added their voices to the growing calls on Laurent Gbagbo to quit and have criticised the unwillingness of the Mills government to adopt a firm and decisive position against his illegal government. The NPP and Nana Addo are disappointed by the mixed signals from the Mills Administration and argue that once ECOWAS and the AU have spoken so unequivocally, Ghana which stands to lose more in the event of a conflict should be more assertive in mounting pressure and isolating Gbagbo. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, the General Secretary of the NPP, has therefore called on President Mills not to only pray for peace in La Cote D’Ivoire but to tell his very good friend Laurent Gbagbo to go and go now. “While we welcome his prayers, we also pray for Mills to gather courage and principled leadership to tell his friend next door to go now and allow the will of the Ivorian majority to prevail,” he said. It can be recalled that in an interview granted the Africa Report on the 26th of October 2010, Laurent Gbagbo named President Mills as one of his counterparts who expressed support for him in the elections. “John Atta Mills of Ghana came here to give support. Jacob Zuma of South Africa announced his support and has already sent me a minister. José Eduardo dos Santos, of Angola, sent an emissary,” Gbagbo said. This comes as no surprise and Laurent Gbagbo’s party, The Ivorian Popular Front, just as President Mills’ National Democratic Congress are all members of Socialist International, the worldwide organization of social democratic, socialist and labour political parties. Nana Addo has described the current situation unfolding in the Ivory Coast as disturbing in a speech delivered to commemorate the 72nd birthday of His Excellency President John Agyekum Kufuor. “We had all hoped that at long last, long-delayed credible elections would lead finally to the resolution of the crisis. Unfortunately, as a result of lust for power, a disease that seems to afflict so many African leaders, that conclusion is in serious doubt”, Nana Addo said. “We can take comfort, however, from the fact that the wave of democracy on the continent continues to gather pace. Our continental organization, the African Union, and our regional body, ECOWAS, are to be both applauded for standing up firmly for the interests of the Ivorian people, who expressed their will so clearly in the November 28 election”, he further added.. Nana Addo advised Laurent Gbagbo to follow in the footsteps of his friend, Prime Minister Celou Diallo, who, after due process, accepted the result of the Guinean presidential election and conceded victory to that great champion of Guinean freedom, Prof Alpha Conde. Sir John said Ghana offers a good lesson for those who are seeking to hang on to power illegitimately. “In the 2000 general elections in Ghana, President Mills and his ruling NDC lost the election in the second round of ballot. But he and his party conceded defeat and bowed out of power. In 2008, President Mills and the NDC became the beneficiaries of the precedent they had set way back in 2000 when Nana Akuffo-Addo and the NPP handed over power after the NDC were declared victors in the second round. We believe that these are worthy examples to emulate”, Sir John said Sir John added, “we know Kojo Tsikata, an advisor to President Mills also serves virtually as an advisor to his special friend Gbagbo. Mills’ special relation to Gbagbo is well known across the world. But, the feeling within the diplomatic circles is that Ghana maybe showing irresponsible sympathy for Gbagbo’s actions. This would be most unfortunate if true”. The man who refuses to step down from the presidency on Saturday ordered thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast immediately, calling the global body that has endorsed his political rival an "agent of destabilization." Saturday's move was the latest act of political defiance by Laurent Gbagbo, who has been in power since 2000 and maintains that he is the winner of last month's runoff vote in the West African nation despite growing international pressure on him to concede defeat. The statement, read on state television, comes just two days after about 30 people were killed in street violence in Ivory Coast. Earlier Saturday, masked gunmen opened fire on the United Nations base even though no one from the U.N. was harmed in the attack. Source: NPP Communications Directorate/NPP Headquarters