The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has promised to work hard with quality leadership to win the 2024 general election despite predictions by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that the party is likely to lose the polls.
In its latest report dated April 13, 2022, the EIU predicted that the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is likely to win the next general election but not with its former presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama.
In a statement welcoming what he said was the EIU’s constructive analysis of the impending 2024 general election, NPP National Communications Director, Mr. Yaw Buaben Asamoa said the suggestion of EIU to the opposition NDC to change its flagbearer for the 2024 polls is a huge boost to the governing party’s effort to “break the 8”.
“This is a huge boost to the NPP effort of breaking the 8, since we are confident that the NPP Candidate will have a better governance record based on the cumulative achievements of the NPP in the 4th Republic”, he added.
According to him, even though victory was predicted for the NDC in 2024, the EIU also implied former President Mahama’s record of leadership is so poor that if he becomes the candidate, the predicted win will go up in smoke.
Mr. Buaben Asamoa said EIU’s prediction of the NDC winning the Presidential election and the Parliamentary elections by a slim margin in 2024 only touts its record of successful predictions over the years.
This, he said, was because the presidential power, rotated over eight-year periods in the 4th Republic and so if the NDC wins, it will not be news.
“But if the NPP wins, it would be a remarkable achievement that would demonstrate the coming of age of electoral politics in Ghana. In other words, an NPP victory in 2024, popularly dubbed ‘breaking the 8’ would be a more unusual event than an NDC victory based on the history of elections in the 4th Republic,” he said.
Mr. Buaben Asamoa said given that Mahama is already the putative candidate, the EIU can comfortably say “we told you so” when the NPP breaks the eight with quality leadership and a strong policy performance that continues to deliver employment, increased infrastructure, and a higher profile against corruption.
NPP, he stressed, welcomes constructive analysis of the governance of the country as objective analysis extends the democratic tenet of free speech and provides perspectives capable of informing policy reform.
“The EIU cites slow governance progress as another reason for change in 2024. Unemployment, Infrastructure and Anti-Corruption.
“The cumulative record of the NPP in the 4th Republic is better on all these factors than the NDC. But more importantly, NDC has not demonstrated any policy capacity capable of turning out better and faster outcomes in the areas listed.
“Indeed, the tendency is for the NDC to set the country back in respect of these factors whenever the eight-year cycle kicks in. The NPP builds and the NDC destroys”, Mr. Buaben Asamoa maintained.
Political stability
Mr. Buaben Asamoa noted that political stability is also a product of the NPP’s quiet yet hard work on the security front.
“Notwithstanding increased threats of regional instability spilling over into Ghana, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and sometimes very extremist talk from anarchic elements, the EIU predicts without hesitation that there will be political stability over the next five years. A plus for free, fair and violence free elections.
Economy
Mr. Buaben Asamoa pointed out that no country is immune to the twin scourges of Covid-19 and the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
According to him, NDC’s solution to the economic difficulties driven by these factors is to seek solace in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
NDC, he warned, will abandon its leadership to the excuse of the IMF and feed off the crumbs of the harsh austerity measures that would roll back all the socially sensitive policies the NPP is sustaining to cushion the Ghanaian.
“Needed to ride over this difficult phase is a strong bureaucratic commitment to efficiently and effectively implement the expenditure cuts and revenue measures outlined by the Government. “Given an impetus by increased collections on the e-levy, reliance on external debt will gradually reduce, leading to increased growth by 2024.
“Unfortunately, the EIU does not tell us how the NDC will come by its slim majority in Parliament,” Mr. Buaben Asamoa concluded.
