Assin North: Voter turnout will decide the election – Prof. Alidu Seidu

The political party which is able to get its faithful to the polling stations to cast their ballot on election day is likely to win in the Assin North by-election in the Central Region, Professor Alidu Seidu, Head of Political Science Department, University of Ghana, has said.

He said the election will be closely contested and that voter turnout “will be a big decider.”

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Prof. Seidu urged political parties to deploy what he termed as “election-day prompters” whose job would be to mobilise the constituents from Monday through to the election day.

He said the prompters should adopt a “door-to-door” approach to convince people to vote.

“The voter turnout is very important. Whatever you do and whatever message you preach and the benefit you give, you will lose if people do not go out to vote.

“From now up to the close of polls tomorrow, the parties should deploy people who will prompt people to go and vote.” Prof. Seidu said.

The by-election follows the orders of the Supreme Court to Parliament to expunge James Gyaakye Quayson’s name from the records of Parliament, creating an opportunity for a new representative to step into the role.

The election slated for Tuesday, June 27, has since attracted many political actors, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawiumia, and former President John Dramani Mahama to the constituency.

The constituency has been busy with projects and bustling political activities in the last few weeks, with all contesting parties busily campaigning for votes.

Mr James Gyaakye Quayson, who is representing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) again, and Charles Opoku, the NPP’s candidate, have been tipped to be the frontrunners in the election.

Assessing the political messages adopted by the NPP and NDC, Prof. Seidu said both parties had adopted propaganda tools to sway voters to their side.

The NDC is appealing to the psycho-emotional aspect of the voters, touching on the “victimisation” of Mr Gyaakye Quayson to draw sympathy from voters while the NPP is “going on a tangent of fear” and warning voters that the NDC candidate could be jailed bound.

“Both political parties are digressing towards propaganda. In the case of the NDC, appealing to the psycho-emotional aspect of the people and in the case of the NPP, appealing to their emotion of fear,” he said.

Prof. Seidu said although the propaganda approach was not wrong in a democratic process, political messaging should be development-oriented and focus on enhancing the welfare and well-being of the people.

The Assin North Constituency was carved out of the then, Assin Central Constituency in 2012.

About 260 settlements make up the constituency, including Assin Bereku, the district capital, Assin Akonfudi, Assin Praso and Assin Kushea, among others.

The NDC won the Assin North constituency seat in 2012 but lost to the NPP in 2016. The NDC reclaimed the seat in 2020.