An audacious target set by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to achieve 60% landslide victory in the upcoming general elections has been described as too ambitious.<\/p>\n
According to a Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Evans Aggrey Darko, the target will be very difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n
This he said is because their main contender, the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC), has a track record of winning elections too.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”5nQkmP0bpX6v1pi8QZBx9yZCmpjKdQk4″]\u201cIt will be difficult for anybody to clinch this high percentage but as I said, it pays also to be optimistic,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Dr. Darko made the comment on Eyewitness News<\/strong> in relation to a bold declaration made by acting Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay, who predicted 60% vote margin for his party.<\/p>\n Mr. Blay said his party is not looking at winning just 53%, but would rather win with a massive landslide to make it very difficult for anyone to reject the verdict.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Ghana, we will definitely have a landslide; we are not going for 52 or 53% as some people are saying. We are aiming at over 60% and I said it\u2019s a one touch landslide victory for us,\u201d he said, adding that in the Ashanti region, they will get over 90% of the votes.<\/p>\n But Dr. Aggrey urged the NPP to be cautious with such high targets since it will send a wrong signal to their supporters if the party fails to win.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the trajectory, it\u2019s a bit ambitious. But in life, one has to be optimistic. We come face to face with two major ideals in the world; what we call them idealism and realism, and when these two concepts clash, they go for realism. So I believe that as we inch close to the elections some pundits and some analysts would want to revise their notes. It\u2019s going to be keenly contested elections. Don\u2019t forget that the competitiveness of election, is also one of the key ingredients of credible elections. So the fact that it\u2019s going to be competitive is good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe only caution is that, you don\u2019t give too much hope to your supporters. What you need to do is that, you ought to be cautious and they ought to tighten their belts, they ought to work hard. Don\u2019t forget that you are coming face to face with an incumbent party which has a serious track record when it comes to winning elections. And therefore you ought to be very careful whilst you are remaining optimistic, you need to also work very hard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll win 80% of votes in Ashanti Region<\/strong><\/p>\n Flagbearer of NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, had also predicted stated that\u00a080% votes<\/strong><\/a><\/span> for the party in the Ashanti Region, its stronghold, will mean they are closer to the presidency.<\/p>\n \u201cThe polls going on in Ashanti Region are encouraging but we all know that if we hit 80% of the popular votes in Ashanti, we have one and a half feet in the door of Jubilee House. So I\u2019m begging you, let us make this year 2016 the year of the elephant,\u201d Akufo-Addo said when he was addressing executives and parliamentary candidates in the Ashanti Region on Monday.<\/p>\n Follow the hashtag <\/em>#GhElections<\/strong> on Social Media for election related stories\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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