Political scientists at the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department, have revealed that the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), will take the lead over the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) if the upcoming general elections were to be held now.
According to them, this is because the NDC is losing its grip in key swing constituencies in the country.
The political scientists’ comments followed a 3-month long election research in some key constituencies in various regions of the country.
Dr. Isaac Owusu Mensah, a lecturer at the Department in an interview on Eyewitness News said the research focused on twenty-four (24) swing constituencies.
“In the swing constituencies, our findings showed that the NDC is losing its strength in the constituencies and are losing it to the NPP,” he said.
He noted that, in the Greater Accra Region, the NDC had lost some support in areas such as Madina Zongo, and that suggests the gap between the parties will be close in the upcoming polls.
“For the National data, the NPP is in the lead with 49.4% of the votes from the swing constituencies.. per our findings, the NPP can win the elections in the first round depending on how well it mobilizes its resources. Even if they don’t win in the first round, they will be in the lead,” he said.
Dr. Owusu stated that, although the research was not emphatic on the chances of parliamentary candidates, its projections showed that the NDC’s Zanetor Rawlings will win the Klottey Korle parliamentary seat.
He added that “for Madina, NPP has taken Madina,” adding that, the NPP will have majority seats in the next parliament.
‘NDC cannot get 1.5 million votes in Ashanti’
The findings said the NDC’s planned 1.5 million votes in the Ashanti Region was impossible; but could still maintain about 30 per cent of the total votes cast.
Dr. Isaac Owusu Mensah noted that, although he believes the research captures the realities on the grounds ahead of the elections, the various candidates and parties involved can affect the dynamics if they effectively mobilize and deploy the resources to secure their victory.
This comes barely a day after President Mahama said various independent scientific polls clearly show he will win the elections in December.
The President failed to mention which organizations conducted the polls, but said the polling results reflect the feedback from his campaign activities across the country.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
