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National Democratic Congress (NDC) emissaries who turned up at the Ridge residence of party founder Jerry John Rawlings, a day after his spouse, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, had submitted her nomination papers at the party�s headquarters, were met with tantrums from the former President when he learnt about their mission. The mission was intended to have former President Rawlings impress upon his wife to step down for President Atta Mills- a move which surprised many political observers, given the confidence the Mills team had all along exuded in the face of the media appearances of the Konadu campaign team. Mr Rawlings told them point blank that they should send the message to his wife, Nana Konadu, since she was the one contesting. He also assured them that he was going ahead with the celebration of June 4 tomorrow where he had promised to unleash a bombshell on Mills and his appointees. Their hearts might have been in their mouths when they set foot in the house, not knowing what awaited them. The picture was no longer hazy when Mr Rawlings reacted angrily to their mission, DAILY GUIDE gathered. At this stage, it was clear to the high-level delegation, made up of the leadership of the Majority in Parliament and Council of Elders including the head of President Mills� campaign team, J.H. Owusu Acheampong, that they had embarked upon a wild goose chase. Other members of the delegation were Dr Mary Grant, a member of the Council of Elders; Issifu Ali, a former co-chairman; Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader; Rashid Pelpuo, deputy Majority Leader; and National Security Advisor Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, who was asked when he was going to produce Gizelle Yajzi as he had promised. At the end of it all, Rawlings gave them a cul de grace when he directed them to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings with their request. They left the residence in disappointment, unable to strike a deal with the man they thought they could convince to have his wife step down and give President Mills the all-clear to contest the 2012 presidential race on the ticket of the NDC. Such a mission had long been forecast by political observers, but that it did not take place before now, is anybody�s guess. Even before the submission of her papers, skeptics doubted whether Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings would make good her intention of contesting the presidency, as party insiders were expecting that at the eleventh hour, she would step down. It was only when the reality had dawned on the party hierarchy that they mustered courage and assembled the high-level delegation which met with a stone-wall at the fire�scarred Ridge residence of the Rawlingses. The guest list at the Ridge residence was deliberately prepared with the expectation of the party elders that perhaps it could hold sway on the former president, but it did not. The initial angry mood of the former president eventually gave way to a sombre discussion, with the guests taking the lead although the intercourse did not change his stance. Perhaps, it was Mr Owusu-Acheampong�s prognosis that Mrs. Rawlings would suffer a massive electoral defeat during the Sunyani Congress in July which upset the former president, given the brusqueness of the prediction. During his intervention, Mr. Owusu-Acheampong said the former First Lady could spare herself the humiliation of an electoral defeat by stepping down at this stage since especially the party intended to present her as a candidate in 2016. He was supported by others who took their turns to plead with the former president, albeit to no avail. In his response, which turned out to be an emphatic �no way�, Mr. Rawlings told his guests that the July polls was a battle between Principles and the Presidency, recalling the reasons which informed his wife�s decision to run for the Vice Chairmanship position in the NDC earlier and her eventual decision to put down her name for the flagbearership. Mrs. Rawlings sought to salvage the party the couple and others struggled to build, he said, pointing out that Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings had been slighted by some persons in the party who breached the beliefs and principles of the party. He repeated the reasons behind his many criticisms of President Mills which, he pointed out, included his refusal to have certain personalities jailed for what, in his opinion, was their shortchanging of the state. If Mrs. Cecilia Johnson, one of Mills�s supporters, thought her role in the campaign team of the President during its launch was on the blind side of the former first couple, she got it all wrong. Rawlings took a swipe at the lady for mounting a platform and, as he put it, ridiculing his wife during the launch of President Mills� campaign recently. As for the Ahwoi brothers, he scorned their presence in the corridors of power, describing them as persons who abandoned President Mills when he was not president because according to them, he was not working for the victory of the party. Perhaps, the final blow he landed his guests was when he told them to go and meet Nana Konadu themselves. Last Wednesday�s crisis meeting between the former President and NDC gurus made the rounds in newsrooms in the nation�s capital with a touch of urgency as many wondered if it was going to make a difference but it did not, with the former first couple entrenching their position of �Mills must go�.