Political scientist, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante, has revealed that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) decision to elect a flagbearer for the party on November 4 is a two horse-race between aspirants, Kennedy Agyapong and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, Ghanaians are privy to a lot of things the duo have done in terms of the way they want to win the election. Nonetheless, he indicated that November 4 will be the deciding moment, and one which Ghanaians anticipate.
To this end, Dr Asah-Asante stated that the remaining two don’t come closer to winning against either Kennedy Agyapong or Dr Bawumia at all.
“I think that if you look at what is happening, it is a two-horse race, not one. I believe the battle is between Kennedy Agyapong and Dr Bawumia, there’s no doubt about that. Look at the way they’ve presented themselves, in terms of their vision, policies, programs, ideas and you gauge it against their following and the rest of them, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the two which are the frontrunners of the program.”
Dr Kwame Asah-Asante
Commenting on the voting pattern of the over 200,000 delegates as against the 2,000 voters that voted during the superdelegates conference, Dr Asah-Asante explained that with the August 26 election, the electoral college was quite small and Dr Bawumia won massively.
He however noted that when the outcome is juxtaposed to that of the current one, it is a big electoral body that is going to make the decision. As such, he revealed that, by sheer numbers, one would realize that it would translate to more numbers and there’s going to be a whole lot of changes that’s going to happen.
“Come to look at even the statistics individually, you’re talking about a population that has all manner of age groups in the November 4, most of them being young people. Their desires, ideas and aspirations are different if you compared to the previous electoral body that voted on August 26. So, all these things will come to play and that is why it is very difficult for one to stick his neck out that it’s going to go this or that direction because you’re talking about a whole sort of people who are going to vote and the factors that influence their choices are also many.”
Dr Kwame Asah-Asante
Decision by delegates on November 4
Moreover, Dr Asah-Asante expressed that at this level, delegates want to see an aspirant who will be able to rub shoulders with whoever has emerged or about to emerge from any political party outside the NPP. He underscored that they want somebody who will equally be able to handle the country’s economic problems and “handle them well”.
“Of course, record will come to play at this level – who will be able to defend the party’s record, come out with new ideas that will bring energy and hope to the people… So, it’s a whole admixture of factors that are going to play out, that makes this election very interesting and it’s very difficult to point out who will win from the word go.”
Dr Kwame Asah-Asante
Meanwhile, majority leader in parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has predicted the outcome of the November 4 New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries, especially regarding Kennedy Ohene Agyapong’s performance.
According to him, Kennedy Agyapong doesn’t stand a chance of winning the election.
“I will be surprised if Kennedy Agyapong gets even 20% in the presidential primaries.”
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
Mr Mensa Bonsu stated that Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic capability remains unquestionable, insisting he is the right person to change the economic situation.
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