afrol News, 10 December - While the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has won a majority of seats in the Accra parliament, none of the presidential candidates managed to reach the 50 percent threshold, with a run-off poll coming up later in December.

Ghana's Electoral Commission today announced the official results of Sunday's parliamentary and presidential elections. The candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo won 49.13 percent of the vote. He thus narrowly defeated the NDC candidate, John Atta Mills, who got 47.92 of counted votes.

Therefore, none of the candidates gained a majority in Sunday's poll round. Consequently, the Electoral Commission chairman Kwadwo Afari Gyan announced, a run-off will be held on 28 December, featuring the two candidates only.

Regarding the parallel parliamentary elections, Mr Gyan said it was too early to announce the official results, as some local results were still to be recounted.

With the partial results confirmed so far, it is however clear that the opposition NDC, which was founded by ex-Dictator Jerry Rawlings, will hold a narrow majority in Ghana's 230-seat national assembly.

Representatives from outgoing President John Kufuor's ruling NPP have already admitted defeat in the parliamentary polls. During the current legislative, the New Patriotic Party has held a 128-seat parliamentary majority.

Mr Gyan during today's press conference in Accra put voter turnout at 69.52 percent, which was slightly lower than the expected, as the vote had caused great enthusiasm among Ghanaians.

So far, there have been no serious claims of unfair practices during the electoral process. Also an election observer team from the European Union (EU) yesterday presented an interim report, hailing the polls as transparent, free and fair.

Regarding the 28 December run-off, electoral campaigns for Mr Akufo-Addo and Mr Atta Mills are projected to kick off soon.

The ruling party candidate remains a favourite to win the run-off. If Mr Akufo-Addo should win, this would put the modern Ghanaian democracy in a new situation, with the parliament and presidency controlled by rivalling parties.

While analysts hold that this would strengthen the Ghanaian democracy, it would also create a situation slowing down decision-making. National budgets, for example, need approval of both the presidency and parliament.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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