A political marketing expert at the University of Ghana says the current momentum in the Assin North constituency could result in the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) James Gyakye Quayson winning the bye-election.
According to Prof. Kobby Mensah, this is based on three key indicators which favour the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate.
One of the factors, per his assessment, hinges on the aggressiveness the party has attached to the campaign.
“Judging from how intense they have been in that community,” Prof Mensah believes the odds could be in their favour.
Mr Quayson is facing criminal charges following a Supreme Court ruling that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing him to contest the 2020 parliamentary election without proof of him renouncing his Canadian Citizenship.
Speaking on Joy FM‘s Super Morning Show, Prof Mensah stressed that recent development since the state commenced the prosecution of the ousted MP has courted some empathy among the constituents in addition to what he had done for the community.
“If you have to stretch it, it looks like there’s quite a lot of empathy on the side based on what he’s done in the community and based on the fact that he’s in court. So you find that from the tapes and the footage that is actually coming from the community. Of course, I could be wrong but it looks like there is no sort of anger against him, and that actually puts him in a good position,” he said on Monday.
Finally, the University of Ghana lecturer believes the sentiment around the performance of the government as a whole is likely to play out in this bye-election.
He explained that the constituents may also be suffering the effects of the economic downturn which may eventually influence their choice in tomorrow’s poll.
“Sadly, there is a general discontent against the government itself. It is not any secret. That is not, you know, anything that people do not know, all of us are very much aware that the government is not in the good books of many people, including the people of Assin North,” he insisted.
“If you take away the demographics, which of course, both candidates actually share the same origin, where they come from and then if you add the other things that I’ve talked about – economic issues and sentiments against the government, obviously the kind of empathy that people are sharing for the MP – I think it puts rather the NDC candidate ahead of the NPP without any poll conducted.”
Mr Quayson is going up against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Charles Opoku.
For the constituents, this bye-election represents a pivotal moment in shaping the future of Assin North and Ghana as a whole.
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