• A national communication officer has put it down generally to internal party issues
• Ama Daaku specifically mentioned 'out of touch' MPs and imposition of candidates on voters
Ellen Ama Daaku, a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party's national communications team has given her diagnosis of how and why the party lost heavily in the 2020 Parliamentary elections.
Ama Daaku, speaking on Accra-based Asaase Radio’s weekend current affairs show, The Forum, said the party's unresolved internal issues were largely to blame for the loss.
She specifically cited issues relating to ‘out of touch’ MPs and in other places, the imposition of candidates on voters.
“I do agree that we had our internal party issues, and we are still having it. I also do agree that some of our MPs lost touch with their base.
“Some of the MPs were practically forced on the people. Some constituents were simply tired of their MPs because they had stayed too long in office. These factors really affected the party in the parliamentary race and it happens mostly with incumbent governments,” she added.
The party, unlike the main opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, has yet to release a report on its post-mortem of the 2020 elections which saw incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo retained as president but with heavy casualties in the legislature.
Some 28 incumbent NPP legislators lost their parliamentary seats in the elections. Some 21 of them were either ministers, ministers of state, or deputy ministers.
The current Parliament has 137 lawmakers on each side with the sole independent candidate and MP for Fomena, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, giving the NPP the majority.
Incidentally, the independent MP – who is also the second deputy speaker of Parliament – was ousted by the NPP after he pushed ahead to stand as an independent candidate after in his view, 'unfairly' losing the party primaries.
The Speaker of Parliament has put on record that there is no clear majority in the house but that the NPP and its ally from the 'Majority Group' and the NDC are the Minority as a result.
Ellen Ama Daaku, a member of the ruling NPP national communications team