Former Obuasi East Member of Parliament(MP), Edward Ennin, has blamed the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) defeat in the Assin North bye-election on the final rally held on Sunday, June 25, 2023.
Mr Ennin has said certain events that happened at the rally may have stirred anger in some people, causing their loss.
High-ranking members of the NPP including President Nana Akufo-Addo, Vice President Bawumia and former Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen graced an intense event to wrap up campaigns in the constituency ahead of Tuesday’s bye-election.
President Akufo-Addo, while speaking at a rally at Assin North on Sunday, charged the constituents not to make a mistake by voting for the NDC’s Gyakye Quayson in the bye-election on Tuesday.
The President insisted Mr Quayson cannot deliver on the duties expected of him as an MP as he could end up in jail due to the criminal trial he is facing, leaving the Constituency without an MP.
Another situation that attracted several backlash was the arrival of Dr Bawumia which interrupted Mr Kyerematen’s speech.
All these among other thting the former lawmaker indicated were the beginning of the NPP’s defeat in the bye-election.
“A lot of things went wrong at the final rally on Sunday so we even lost at the rally. The Alan-Bawumia fiasco created problems and from what I picked on the ground, there was apathy. So in most of our strongholds, people did not vote.
“You do not have to force people to vote for who you want. People allow positions and money to lead them in everything but that shouldn’t be so,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Neat FM.
Going forward, Mr Ennin noted the NPP must be cautious in choosing the people who lead campaigns, especially for elections.
The Assin North bye-election was necessitated by the removal of Mr Quayson, the incumbent lawmaker, following a Supreme Court ruling that cited procedural issues surrounding his nomination as a parliamentary candidate in 2020.
Mr Quayson was selected as the NDC’s candidate in a fierce contest against Mr Opoku with analysts predicting a closely contested race, possibly favouring the NPP.
But at the close of polls on Tuesday, Mr Quayson was retained after he polled 17,245 votes representing 57.56% of valid votes.
His main rival, Charles Opoku obtained 12,630 or 42.15% of valid votes to place second, while the Liberal Party of Ghana’s Bernice Enam Sefanu polled only 87 votes or 0.29%.
In 2020, Mr Quayson won the Parliamentary election with 17,498 votes representing 55.21 per cent as against the then NPP candidate Abena Durowaa Mensah’s 14,193 votes representing 44.79 per cent.
 Edward Ennin has blamed NPP) defeat in the Assin North bye-election on the final rally held on Sunday, June 25, 2023.){kind=link}