Mr. Ayariga, an accountant and entrepreneur, 44, was defeated by Dr. Edward Mahama, a seventy year old gynaecologist, who after unsuccessfully leading the party from 1996 to 2008, staged a surprise comeback.<\/p>\n
The reaction from a cross-section of Ghanaians presumably non- PNC members to Mr. Ayariga’s defeat, is that of ecstasy.<\/p>\n
When Mr. Ayariga was handed the baton in 2012, members of the PNC and observers were optimistic he could reinvigorate the party to improve its fortunes in the 2012 elections, because of his youthfulness, but that was not to be.<\/p>\n The image of the PNC appears to have been badly dented with many describing Mr. Ayariga as a \u2018political comedian\u2019 as he became popular not for the intelligence and character he exhibited, but merely for the \u2018jokes\u2019 he churned out.<\/p>\n Mr. Ayariga\u2019s commentaries on governance issues were seen as shallow particularly when he appeared on the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) organized Presidential debate ahead of the 2012 elections.<\/p>\n At that debate, Mr. Ayariga who coughed repeatedly and intermittently when it was his turn to answer questions later earned the nickname \u2018Ayaricough\u2019 and got many Ghanaians ridiculing him on radio, television and on social media platforms.<\/p>\n For most observers, his inclusion in that race was only good because he spiced up a rather serious contest with a bit of humor and not because he had anything good to offer the electorate to convince them to vote for the PNC.<\/p>\n Indeed, the observers were not wrong as the PNC\u2019s votes dwindled rather drastically from its previous performances when Dr. Edward Mahama was in charge.<\/p>\n PNC\u2019s performance in previous polls<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1996, Dr. Edward Mahama had 3.0% of the vote in the presidential election.<\/p>\n In his second attempt at the presidency in 2000, Dr. Mahama had 2.5% of the votes.<\/p>\n In preparation for the 2004 presidential election, the PNC and two other parties \u2013 Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) formed an alliance known as the Grand Coalition and chose Dr. Mahama as its presidential candidate.<\/p>\n![\"467cc6f7-92cd-429d-ae9c-5d18e3e743b4\"](\"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/467cc6f7-92cd-429d-ae9c-5d18e3e743b4.jpg\")
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