Amissah-Arthur cautions against pre-election survey

Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has warned pre-election surveys projecting victory for some political parties in the this year’s general elections could undermine the integrity of December 7 polls.

“We have to appeal to our intellectuals, some of the people are publishing serious opinion polls that are showing some parties that are winning, and that encourages their supporters to think that if they lose, then somebody might have done something wrong,” he said.

Findings of a latest research conducted by the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department said the NPP would record 69.9 per cent in the 2016 presidential general election if the general elections were to be held now.

The researchers projected 39.9 per cent for the National Democratic Congress five per cent for the Progressive People’s Party and 1.7 for both the Convention People’s Party and the National Democratic Party.

Another research by Groupe Nduom Research also tipped the NPP to win the elections because 51 per cent of Ghanaians are confident Nana Akufo-Addo is the best candidate to address unemployment, health and educational issues in the country when voted as president.

Again, the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) has predicted victory for Nana Akufo-Addo in the December presidential election, and majority of seats in Parliament. In an apparent response to these pre-election surveys, Mr Amissah-Arthur Friday argued it could create confusion and destabilise the country in the event that the results of the December 7 elections do not go according to the projections.

“That is also undermining the integrity of our elections. So we are appealing to all the people who are writing all these opinion polls that are showing these fantastic results, to be careful about the country and its stability,” he said.

Speaking at the commissioning of a 500-bed capacity girls dormitory for the Enyan Abasa Senior Technical School in the Central Region, he explained that some Ghanaians might not understand these polls and feel their party would win the elections.

“…And [if] they don’t win then, they become violent. That is something that we are all trying to discourage,” he added.

Attack on EC

Commenting on verbal attacks on the Electoral Commission, the Vice President observed that could also undermine the integrity of the elections, which are just 10 days away. “The constant attacks on the integrity of the Electoral Commission undermine the work of the Electoral Commission.

It sets the stage for people to reject the results when they announce it and that we cannot accept,” he said.

He noted that there are dangers in the way in which some of the parties are conducting themselves in the processes leading to the general elections. Mr Amissah-Arthur assured that all the agencies of government are making sure that the country conducts “free and fair elections,” indicating that is what Ghanaians want because the country “has become a model for true democracy in Africa”.

Political ‘false prophets’

Meanwhile he has urged the electorates to be alert and examine all the campaign promises being made as well as the manifestos of the various political parties, noting some of them are unrealistic and only intended to deceive them to win the elections.

“I think you have to study the manifestos, the development projects, and all the promises that are being made by the political parties. You have to analyse them and decide which ones you can support and which ones are unrealistic that you can support,” he said.

He said it is important to analyse the messages to identify those that are unrealistic “because in times like this, you have false prophets who are promising several things; you will have to find out who the true prophets are and the false prophets, and reject the false prophets who are promising heaven and earth” He said the Ghana could progress if “we put our shoulders to the wheel and work hard”.