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A former flagbearer aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Ekow Spio-Gabrah has called on President John Dramani Mahama to �move quickly� in addressing the challenges of �inadequate unity� within the party ahead of the December elections. Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Dr Spio-Gabrah holds the position that President Mahama should move to bridge all gaps between the party and its founder, President John Rawlings, because of his positioning within the political and electoral history of the country. Relations between the NDC and its founder have been strained for a long period of time because of what political watchers have described as differences in the ideological positioning of the party. Several leading members of the Party have in recent months openly criticized the founder of the party and are reported to have declared that the Party could win the December without him. Dr Spio-Gabrah, however, disagrees with the party�s position. He said: �There are people in the NDC who were thinking or are still thinking of forming a new party. All these are things the new President must move quickly if he wants to get every single vote. Those who will say President Rawlings is not important in the NDC, they can win elections without him; all those comments were not helpful at all to NDC�s electoral fortunes.� �In a political party it is all those holding various positions which make the organization strong or weak. So it is rather awkward for any political party � to have a living founder and also who still happens to be constitutionally Chairman of its council of elders, and then some members of the party say we don�t need that person! � He added: "I think most Ghanaians will agree that he is a very strong campaigner� So if the people who follow President Rawlings are only 100,000 people and you won the last election by 50,000 votes, why would you forgo the 100,000 votes that President Rawlings could bring to your party?" He noted that �it is important for him not to be, as it were cocooned, by only a few people as advisers. It depends what kind of kitchen cabinet he decides to put together or listen to; just so that he has his ears to the ground and he is able to be accessible and he makes sure he is not cut off from anybody who can help him.� He however cautioned the President saying �am aware of officials who are appointed and who think their business is to protect the President; and from their point of view protecting the President means preventing certain kind of documents and information from getting to him. And of course many of these people have their own agendas in such positions and often do not think of the national interest when they are making such decisions."