James Gyakye Quayson will be the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Assin North by-election, the party has reaffirmed.
The party claims that Mr. Quayson, whose appointment was suspended by the Supreme Court, will still be a candidate on the party’s ballot.
Speaking on Citi FM in Accra, Mustapha Gbande, the NDC’s deputy general secretary, said it was best to ignore rumors that Mr. Quayson would be replaced.
“The party has a plan, but what we are sharing with the public is that the NDC is ready for the by-election. We know that the government is coming to challenge us, and we are already on the ground, and so our preparations are underway. The NDC is prepared for the Assin North by-election. We have said that the government has denied the people of Assin North representation in Parliament by using the judiciary. As we speak, the Supreme Court has not been able to deliver a written judgment to the parties involved, which is in itself a travesty of the process.
“What this means to us is that we need to consolidate our gains on the ground and reinforce what we already know. We have stated that we are re-presenting the candidate that we know, James Gyakye Quayson, who is credible and loved by his constituents. That decision has not changed. It is propaganda coming from the NPP to attack the integrity of our candidate that we are ditching him. The party has not said so. He is eligible to contest an election, and he is innocent until a court finds him guilty. Why is the NPP worried more than us?” asked the Deputy National Secretary of the NDC.
He declared that the party would keep an eye out for any potential vote-buying in the NPP and would call for action from the police in such cases.
“Keeping in mind that the government has decided to repeat the issue of vote-buying, we are going to keep the Ghana Police on alert about some of these things. If we cite the issue of vote-buying and make a complaint, the police must not take it as business as usual, but must act on it, so that we can have a level playing field. If we do that, we are optimistic that the NDC will win the seat,” he expressed hope
After the Supreme Court ruled that James Gyakye Quayson was qualified to hold the Assin North seat, Parliament, through its Clerk, declared the seat vacant on May 30.
