Citing the two recent by-elections - Assin North and Kumawu - Gabby concluded that "Democracy, indeed, works in Ghana."
He congratulated the National Democratic Congress for winning the Assin North seat and the NPP for retaining the Kumawu seat in May following the death of an MP.
Gabby observed in a tweet dated June 29 that everything from the two by-elections pointed to the fact that the 2024 general elections were going to be very competitive.
He called on political parties to allow people make their choice freely at the polls and that they should have faith in key institutions of state tasked with conducting the pols - the Electoral Commission, security agencies and the judiciary.
The Assin North by-election
In the case of the June 27 by-election in Assin North, the Electoral Commission's announced the NDC's James Gyakye Quayson as winner having garnered a total of 17,245 votes, representing 57.56% of the total votes cast.
His closest contender, Charles Opoku of the NPP received 12,630 votes, accounting for 42.15% of the votes.
Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the Liberal Party Ghana (LPG) secured 87 votes, which represented 0.29% of the overall tally.
The by-election in Assin North was held to fill the parliamentary seat left vacant following a legal battle that questioned Quayson's eligibility to hold office due to dual citizenship concerns.
Read Gabby's full post below:
Democracy, indeed, works in Ghana. Congratulations to the National Democratic Congress!
Last May, the ruling New Patriotic Party won and retained the Kumawu parliamentary seat in a by-election necessitated by the death of the MP.
Congratulations to the NPP!
Yesterday, the NDC won and retained the Assin North seat, necessitated by a court decision. Both by-elections registered very high voter turnouts. Both parties performed better in their respective by-election victories than they did in the 2020 parliamentary contests there.
NPP won the 2023 Kumawu by-election with a much bigger margin than they did in the 2020 parliamentary race there. NDC also did much better yesterday in Assin North than in 2020.
This shows the strengths and readiness of both parties as we approach Dec 2024. The campaigns were of very high intensity, but the tensions were manageable and managed.
I see 2024 being very competitive. Let the nation approach the 2024 general elections demanding nothing but respect for our democracy from the political parties and their activists.
Let them treat the general election with some reasonable level of trust, confidence and mutual respect in the institutions of state, EC, security agencies, judiciary, etc.
Every election will be won and lost! Allow the rules to work. Let the people decide. Let their choices be respected. Let us believe in our institutions and in our democracy. Ghana wins! Eid Mubarak!
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Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko
