Two persons have picked the nomination forms to contest the Assin North Constituency parliamentary primary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central Region.
As of 4 pm on Thursday, 1st June 2023, Charles Opoku and Frederick Freeman Amoah-Kyei were the only aspirants who picked nomination forms to contest for the Primary scheduled for 7th June 2023.
The ruling party is expected to select a candidate for the 27th June bye-election in the Assin North Constituency.
With much expectation, the former candidate who was an incumbent Member of Parliament as of December 2020, Abena Durowaa Mensah didn’t show up to pick the forms as her reason behind this is yet be defined.
The former MP, madam Mensah won the seat for the New Patriotic Party in 2016 with 15,553 votes against 10,751 votes for Ambre Samuel, candidate for the National Democratic Congress.
She could not retain the seat in 2020 and she was defeated by embattled NDC’s Mr Quayson with 17,498 votes against her 14,193 votes.
Meanwhile, the Assin North Constituency Chairman for the National Democratic Congress, Felix Benefo, has revealed that the party will reconsider Mr Quayson as candidate for the upcoming bye-election.
He said Mr Quayson has denounced his Canadian citizenship and can contest the seat again for the NDC, adding, he will get more sympathy votes and win the seat again for the NDC.
The apex court ordered Parliament to expunge Mr Quayson’s name from its records after it concluded that he failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship at the time of filing his nomination forms to contest the polls after a case was filed by a resident of the constituency, Michael Ankomah Nimfah.
Presiding Judge Justice Jones Dotse on Wednesday, May 17, ruled that the Electoral Commission (EC) acted unconstitutionally in allowing him to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections without proof of him renouncing his Canadian citizenship.
The EC has slated 27th June 2023 as the date to conduct the bye-election.