Mr. Hassan Ayariga says now that the debate has been postponed beyond the five-day mourning period declared by the president, he would make an appearance, more so his health – one of the reasons he cited Monday for his decision not to appear for the debate – has improved significantly.
He said his comments Monday that the IEA platform was not a determinant of a candidate’s performance in the elections were predicated on the IEA Administrator, Jeane Mensah’s insistence that the debate would come off even if one candidate availed himself.
That hardliner position, he said, was unfortunate.
The IEA had, in view of Mr Ayariga's comments, said he would not be allowed to take part in the debate.
But Mrs Jeane who spoke on behalf of the IEA said Ayariga would now be accepted into Wednesday's debate.
"The PNC is a party that we've worked with closely and they have representation in Parliament; we had worked with Mr Ayariga for the Evening Encounters and the Presidential Debates and we thought that he was very enthusiastic about it so we were surprised to hear that he indicated that our platforms were not useful; we've heard that he still wants to come back, we don't know how useful it would be to him but since his party [is one] of the political parties we are working with, we would receive him at the debate," she said.
source: Joyonline
