2012 Election: Skirt And Blouse' Voting To Surface?

The �skirt and blouse� voting pattern which surfaced in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) constituency and saw many in the area voting for President J A Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Convention Peoples Party as Member of Parliament in 2004 is likely to resurface in the constituency in this year�s election. This time round, a group in the constituency is rooting for Dr Ato Quarshie, a former National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate against Dr J.S Annan, the incumbent MP. According to the group, if Ato Quarshie does not stand as independent candidate in the area after losing to Dr Annan, they would vote President Mills for President and Nana Ato Arthur of the NPP for MP in the forthcoming elections. The Youth Organiser for the Friends of Ato Quarshie, Mr Anthony Waranto Eshun, said emphatically that the group would not vote for Dr J.S Annan. In an interview, Mr Eshun said Dr Annan had failed to represent the people of the constituency well. �He is not our MP. He doesn�t even know the people he represents. He does not respect the people who worked to get him elected into power and that is the reason why some of us would not vote for him. Mr Eshun, who is also the elected assemblyman for Neizes Garden at Elmina, said the NDC is likely to lose the KEEA seat to Nana Ato Arthur if things remain the way they are. He said Dr J S Annan had done badly in the constituency. We don�t necessarily need his money. But his bad human relation is what would cost him the seat. �It is obvious that Ato Quarshie is not willing to stand as an independent candidate. If we are not able to convince him to stand in the elections, then the seat is likely to go to the NPP. Mr Eshun indicated that Dr Annan had brought a lot of divisions and acrimony in the ranks of the party in the constituency weakening the party in the area. �He was not around when we worked to build the party in this area. He does not know what some of us sacrificed to make what the party is today and now he is working hard to disintegrate it and he has to go,� he said. Mr Eshun said Dr Annan is not a deeply rooted NDC man and his standing for the elections would cost the NDC a lot. He however stated that the KEEA NDC was firmly behind the President and would work to ensure that he wins massively in the area. �President Atta Mills is our own man. He is doing well as president and we would support him fully and that is where the �skirt and blouse� voting would come in,� he said. The KEEA constituency chairman of the NDC, Mr Micheal Asmah, said there were a few issues the NDC had to work on in the constituency if it was to secure the seat. �There are few issues which are not for the consumption of the press but we are working at to ensure that we retain the seat.