Barring any unexpected events, the Asawase constituency parliamentary seat will remain with the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the acting General Secretary of the party, Mr. Bede Zeideng, has declared.

Speaking in a telephone interview from Kumasi, Mr. Zeideng explained that the NDC candidate was very much acceptable to the people in the constituency because of his long stay in the area. He said the advantage in this long stay was that it had enabled him to know the aspirations of the people, which the party was using as its message, adding that it was going down well with the people.

Mr. Zeideng said the failure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to deliver on its campaign promises to make life easier for Ghanaians had also tilted the scale in favour of the NDC in the Asawase bye-election. He said soon after the 2004 elections, ?the NPP has shown its true colours that it does not care a hoot about the welfare of Ghanaians by increasing the prices of petroleum products, especially petrol, from ?20,000 to ?30,000?.

He described this as deception on the part of the NPP which had said it was going to make life easier for ordinary people. He said the NPP had, therefore, no option but to pump a lot of resources into the campaign for the Asawase seat. On the mounting tension in the run up to the bye-election, Mr. Zeideng said the leadership of the NDC had advised its supporters to comport themselves and remain calm in the face of any intimidation.

He said the NDC, which is sure of winning the election to retain the seat, would not resort to acts of violence which could cost the party the seat. Mr. Zeideng said because of this fear, a lot of resources were being poured there to influence the electorate not to retain the NDC in the constituency.