The National Youth Organizer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Salam Mustapha, is calling for comprehensive and detailed research to determine the factors that led to the defeat of the party in the Assin North by-election.
James Gyakye Quayson of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) polled 17,245 votes, representing 57.56% of the total votes cast, to beat Charles Opoku of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) in the June 27 by-election in the Assin North constituency.
Speaking on Face to Face on Citi TV, Salam Mustapha said the outcome of the by-election is rife with rumours and speculation about the administration’s incompetence, but that can only be ascertained with comprehensive research.
“In the absence of scientific research into what went wrong, the rumours, conjecture, and speculation will continue to be rife. However, I strongly believe that we should have a very detailed research into the outcome of the Assin North by-election and even in Kumawu, one that will tell us whether those outcomes are true reflections of the mandate of the people.”
He added that even though the NPP deployed all of its machinery during the campaign in the constituency, the ultimate decision lies with the people.
“By-elections are special projects because the entire force of the party is brought to bear. In political circles, we say that by-elections are national elections because all parties involved bring their full machinery to bear as far as the campaign and elections are concerned. At the end of the day, the principle of choice lies with the people, and they have spoken.”
