Economy, good governance to decide 2020 elections — Survey

The performance of the Ghanaian economy, job creation and voters’ perception about, which of the two main leading political parties offers good governance will decide the 2020 elections, the latest iPoll survey has revealed.

The survey conducted by Dr Kobby Mensah, a Lecturer at the University of Ghana, said education and corruption, which were key issues in the previous general elections, were ranked low by respondents as key issues that could influence their decision in the upcoming elections.

It said health was surprisingly the least mentioned factor, considering that “we are in the midst of a global pandemic that has killed nearly three hundred Ghanaians and caused the government to promise new hospitals across the country.”

“These sentiments were very strong amongst both public and private sector employees, and students surveyed,” it said.

For this poll, 892 people from across the country participated and formed a fairly representative picture of the national view, which took place between August 2 and August 28, 2020.

On the performance of the current government, the majority of respondents felt that the government had been unable to fulfil its promises made during the 2016 elections that brought it into office.

It said this view was more strongly felt among respondents with graduate and post-graduate education.

The survey said similarly, respondents felt that the general state of affairs and their circumstances had not improved since this government took over in 2017.

However, students held the view that their circumstances had improved over the period. On parliamentary elections, the majority of respondents said their choices would be based on local issues.

“This, we believe can see more split votes, known in local parlance as ’skirt and blouse’,” it said.

The enthusiasm for the electoral process, based on the survey, remained remarkably high, indicating that from respondents, a marginally higher percentage of people were sure of voting this year than did in the last elections in 2016.

The survey said the eagerness was strong amongst graduate and postgraduate respondents. It said for those, who were not yet committed, a greater percentage said they would be moved to do so if the government initiated some new policies.

The survey said that suggested that the apathy was coming from supporters of the government who were still waiting to be convinced and might sit out of the elections.