Give us a break – NDC to EIU

The opposition National Democratic Congress has dismissed predictions by the Economist Intelligence Unit ( EIU) that they will lose to the ruling New Patriotic Party in the 2020 elections.

The Report released on May 13 said President Akufo-Addo will beat the NDC candidate former President John Mahama in next year’s polls.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday, Mr. Kakra Essamuah who is communications director of the opposition party said the prediction is not based on credible grounds.

“They should give us a break, 18 months into an election you are predicting who will win? How is that scientific? They want us to get complacent but we will not. Where is it from? We will go into the election with preparation in the hope that we will win.

"Recently Macron won an election in France but today what is happening in France, so we are not going to worry ourselves on such reports at all,” he said.

The EIU report stressed: “Nana Akufo-Addo, the president, and his NPP will see the country’s economic situation generally improve during the remainder of their terms of office. In the presidential election, it says Akufo-Addo will face a challenge from John Mahama— Ghana’s president from 2012 to early 2017, who was elected leader of the opposition NDC in February 2019,” the latest report released on May 13 said.

It added: “the 2016 legislative election was won by the NPP; and the campaign was dominated by the faltering economy, which many Ghanaians still associate with Mr Mahama.

“The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that it will be difficult for the NDC under Mr Mahama to portray itself as the better custodian of Ghana’s economy, especially as the country’s growth outlook is fairly strong.”

The report was emphatic “Mr. Akufo-Addo and the NPP to secure re-election in 2020.”

It however observed “if the NDC can present a coherent opposition and hold the NPP to account on unfulfilled campaign promises particularly on job creation and industrialisation, where progress has been generally slow and success patchy—the election could be closely contested.”