Report says 50% of MPs risk losing seat, worry – Analyst

General News on Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-06-11

Sammy Obeng, executive director of the Parliamentary Network for Africa, said recent research by the political science department of the University of Ghana should be a warning to parliamentarians and Ghanaians.

The report revealed that 49.5 percent of Ghanaians surveyed said they would not vote for the incumbent, citing poor results and lack of representation.

The majority of respondents, representing 46.7%, also do not want their incumbent MPs to run in the 2020 general election.

According to the study, 42.4% want their MPs to challenge, while 10.9% are undecided on whether their MPs should or should not contest.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Obeng said the report was a major cause for alarm, saying "I think MPs should be extremely worried. Ghanaians should also be extremely worried. Predicting this, about 180 MPs risk losing their seat in the next election is a worrying trend. "

"We should be worried. MPs should begin to revise their notes on how to create a balance between the constituencies of a chamber and their work, so that none of its aspects suffers. They (MPs) are penalized for not going to their constituencies, but structures have been put in place in Parliament and MPs must take advantage of them to make themselves visible to voters. In the age of technology, they must make their constituents understand what they are doing as MPs, "he added.

What the research said

Respondents were also asked to rate the performance of parliamentarians and the result showed that less than half of the respondents representing 45.7% were satisfied.

52.3% were not satisfied with the performance of parliamentarians.

The research entitled "A Mid-Term Study of MPs: Emerging Issues" also revealed that the alleged poor performance by MPs was responsible for voter apathy among voters.

Research also found that at the national level, 87.8% of respondents said they intended to vote in the next general election, compared with 9.7% of respondents who said they would not vote if the Elections were taking place today.

About 2.5% of respondents were undecided

Respondents were asked to rate the performance of their MPs so far on the "Excellent to very bad" scale, with less than half of the 45.7% satisfied, the majority, 52.3% dissatisfied.

"The generally poor performance of elected officials induces the apathy of voters.

It is therefore interesting to note that despite the generally non-impressive performance of MPs, more than four out of five respondents said they would vote, 9.7% refused to vote and 2.5% were undecided. "

"In this follow-up question; 49.5% answered "no" They would not vote for the outgoing president. 42.6% of respondents answered "yes". They would vote for the outgoing president, 7.9% were undecided.

The researchers called on parliamentarians to be cautious in holding the kind of promises they made during campaigns, adding that their continued absence from their constituency could affect their bid for re-election.

"MPs must carefully weigh their campaign promises, with their constituents holding them accountable for these promises."

"Many voters are worried about the continued absence of their MPs from their communities. They must therefore improve their level of interaction and communication with their constituents. "

The researchers revealed that 27,500 Ghanaians in 275 constituencies across the country participated in the study.