NDC will gain a small majority in Ghana’s 9th Parliament – EIU report

EIU says govt is struggling to pass policies because of its slight majority in parliament

NPP government is making a lot of compromises with the NDC to pass policies – Report

NDC cannot win 2024 elections with Mahama – EIU

The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) has projected that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will have a small majority in Ghana’s 9th Parliament of the 4th Republic.

Although the report did not state the reason why the NDC will have a majority in parliament it indicated that Ghanaians are more likely to vote for them because of their displeasure with the performance current government, particularly, in the area of job creation and infrastructure development.

"... we expect the NDC to gain a small majority in parliament... Our baseline forecast is that ongoing public dissatisfaction with the slow pace of improvements in governance-such as infrastructure development, job creation and easing of corruption-will trigger anti-incumbency factors and push the electorate to seek a change," the EIU report stated.

Also, the EIU, in its five-year forecast for Ghana released on April 13, 2022, indicated the current government was having difficulty in passing its policies because it had no clear majority.

It added that because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led government has no clear majority in Parliament, it has had to give a lot of concessions and make compromises to the opposition NDC to get its ministerial appointees and major policies approved by the house.

“In the 2020 parliamentary election, the NPP and the NDC each won 137 seats, but in January the one independent member of parliament (MP) announced that he would co-operate with the NPP, giving it the 138 seats needed for an effective majority.

“With a razor-thin majority, the Akufo-Addo administration will require all of its MPs to vote with the party in order to push through signature policies, which is likely to necessitate deal-making to persuade MPs, which stands to obstruct immediate policy priorities, such as reducing a large fiscal overhang through expenditure cuts and tax rises,” the report said.

“… with the speaker role secured, the NDC could block ministerial appointments and potentially withhold parliamentary assent for major policies, leading Mr Akufo-Addo's administration into concessions and compromises with the NDC,” he added.

Also, the EIU noted that the NDC cannot win the 2024 generals elections with former President John Dramani Mahama as their flagbearer.

The report said that the government under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is faced with numerous challenges including an economic downturn, and corruption among others which will fuel citizens' sentiments against the governing party.

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