by Linda Straker
- 2 main political parties signed up candidates for 15 constituencies
- Incumbent NNP is seeking a third consecutive term in office
- NDC supporters elected a new leader on 31 October 2021
At the close of the nomination day, the 2 main political parties signed up candidates for each of the 15 constituencies but it’s not clear how many smaller political parties nominated candidates for the 23 June 2022 General Elections.
“The period for Nomination was from 9:00 am to 12:00noon and after that, all the returning officers will come together in the main office for the Supervisor of Elections to tally the number of candidates, so a final number will be provided after this is done,” said Ferdinand Phillip, Civic and Education Officer at the Parliamentary Elections Office (PEO).
Over the past 4 general elections, only the New National Party (NNP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been able to nominate candidates to fill all constituency seats. For the 2018 General Election, there were 7 political parties but only the NNP and the NDC receives thousands of votes, the smaller parties and independent candidates all together received less than 200 votes.
The incumbent NNP is seeking a third consecutive term in office while the main opposition NDC is seeking to return to office. It was voted out of office in 2013 and did not win a seat to have representation in the House of Representatives. The NDC was also unable to win a seat in the 2018 General Election.
The NDC supporters elected a new leader on 31 October 2021 and the members are hopeful that it will return to govern the affairs of the country. In both the 2013 and 2018 general elections, that party received more than 20,000 votes while the NNP received more than 30,000 votes.
Vote for change, the time has come.