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A Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, has predicted a win for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the impending Assin North by-election.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, he said although the strength of the two main parties – NPP and NDC are at par, the fact that the NDC’s James Gyakye Quayson won the seat in 2020 puts the party ahead.
He also believes the controversy surrounding Gyakye Quayson’s subsequent exit may favour the party.
Although the Electoral Commission is yet to announce a date for the by-election, Mr Asah-Asante believes the NDC’s decision to use the same candidate puts them slightly above.
“The NDC stands a little chance higher than the NPP even though I have not gone to the field to pick any data. But from analysis and data that is available, I can say this.”
He said although the incumbent party will put in their all and give the NDC a good run for its money, but the NDC stands a better chance.
“…If you look at the last election, the fact that Gyakye Quayson won the election, it is going to change the dynamics.
“For instance, we are looking at issues of the economy – it is a critical factor they [electorates] are going to consider …Again, his issue tied to that, we realise that he won as a strong candidate had it not been the case, they would have had their candidate in Parliament…,” he said.
Speaking on the same show, a Deputy National Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, said the party is ready to contest in the upcoming Assin North by-election.
He said preparations were already in place for campaigning and other activities right after the Supreme Court order that led to the expunging of Mr James Gyakye Quayson’s name from parliament’s records.
“We in the NDC are prepared for this election. We began our preparation even as we were in Kumawu. We will do our review meetings and we will take over Assin North. We knew that we would go into a by-election and so the party has already put processes in place,” he said.
“There was a vigil held recently and subsequently there are other activities that will start tomorrow [May 31] to canvass and further reinforce our relationship with the constituency,” Mr Gbande added.
He added that the party is confident that Gyakye Qyason is ready and will emerge victorious in the by-election to retain the Assin North seat.
Out of seven parliamentary elections in the Assin North Constituency since 1996, the NPP has won four, whereas the NDC has won three times.
In the 2020 parliamentary election for instance, the votes margin between the NDC and the NPP was 3,305. This was in spite of the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo won the presidential.
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