General News of Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-04-20‘They are definitely wrong’ – Freddie Blay ‘dismisses’ EIU report on NPP loss in 2024
Freddie Blay, the National Chairman of the ruling NPP
NPP will lose 2024 elections
NDC likely to win elections if they present a new candidate
EIU report triggers reactions in NDC, NPP
National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, Freddie Blay, has dismissed a report that states that the party will lose the 2024 elections to the opposition
Read full articleNational Democratic Congress, NDC.
The report by the London-based Economic Intelligence Unit, EIU, said the NDC had a better chance of winning the next polls and will also take a slight Parliamentary majority.
Reacting to the report in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Freddie Blay said the authors of the report were ‘definitely’ wrong especially because the election was a long way from now.
“I think they are wrong, definitely they are wrong. Speaking from where I am and knowing what the government is doing, in spite of the challenges that we are having.
“For anybody to consider or to just look at what is happening which is not typical of Ghana but all over the world… for you to say definitely the NPP will not win… not less than two years ahead…for you to be convinced under the circumstance to say that we are bound to lose and will not break the eight, I beg to disagree,” he stressed.
He likened the 2024 polls to a football match and stressed that the NPP were ready for the opponent and whoever they present as their candidate.
“We are going to play football, these are our opponents, whoever they bring, so far as we are concerned. Any candidate that will be presented by the NDC, we should be okay provided we play our ball well,” he added.
The NPP’s Communications Director, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, in a press release dated April 19, also stated that it will be no surprise if the NDC wins the polls but rather if the NPP is able to ‘break the eight’ – i.e. win a historic third consecutive term under the current Constitution.
According to EIU’s five-year forecast for Ghana released on April 13, 2022, the NDC has a higher probability to be victorious in the next general elections.
President Akufo-Addo’s tenure ends in 2024 with the NPP set to present a new candidate for the next elections. Mahama, if he contests will be going for his fourth straight contest.
The current government is faced with numerous challenges including unemployment, an economic downturn, and corruption among others which London-based analysts believe will fuel citizens’ sentiments against the governing party.
“Our baseline forecast is that ongoing public dissatisfaction with the slow pace of improvements in governance—such as infrastructure development, job creation and easing of corruption—will trigger anti-incumbency factors and push the electorate to seek a change," the EIU report stated.
The EIU has, in the past, predicted correctly the outcomes of Ghana’s elections in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Read the full report below:
