Ghanaian actress Lydia Forson has warned the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and their supporters to be circumspect in how they react to criticism from opposition factions lest they lose the December 7 polls.
According to Ms Forson, the NPP is banking on the general perception that people are frustrated with the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and because of this, want change.
“But this assumption and the insistence that all Ghanaians should feel this way coupled with the campaign they’re running is why I believe they may probably not win the elections,” she stated.
The award-winning actress noted that the NPP was looking at the country through the eyes of the opposition, but they should understand that “your Ghana isn’t everyone else’s Ghana, meaning how you see the country isn’t the way everyone else does”, adding: “Because of this perception, they’re mistakenly campaigning against members of the ruling party and anyone else who doesn’t support this claim, instead of campaigning to them.”
The Perfect Picture actress, in a write up on her blog, noted that because of the NPP’s mindset that every Ghanaian is frustrated with government and must see Ghana through their lenses, “their following are quick to fight and attempt to silence anyone who doesn’t share in this feeling of frustration, forgetting that the whole purpose of a campaign is to appeal to voters and not bully them into voting for you”.
“Their confidence in this perception is also why the outcome may not only surprise them but create unnecessary tension if they don’t win,” she added.
Below is the full write-up:
I started writing this piece a few weeks ago but I wasn’t sure if it was worth sharing.
Before I proceed, however, it’s important I make this disclaimer.
DISCLAIMER: A lot of you are not going to like me after this post, and for those who already don’t you’re probably going to despise me more. I may lose some friends after this, but I won’t lose much sleep if I do because my real friends respect that we don’t have to always agree.
The attention and backlash I receive each time I share my opinion is enough to make anyone afraid of speaking out on issues in this country.
I guess because of the misconception that only a “chosen” few are qualified to speak on politics and national issues, people are quick to tag me a controversial attention seeker.(if only this title was something worth fighting for)
I’m a Ghanaian citizen of sound mind and a registered voter; meaning I have EVERY RIGHT to speak on issues in this country, and so should anyone who feels incline to do so, we shouldn’t to be bullied into silence because it’s our constitutional RIGHT.
When Ben Ephson, the Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper and pollster made predictions on the elections, the brouhaha surrounding it, has encouraged me to share this piece I wrote a while back.
Now I’m no pollster, analyst or expert, and I won’t pretend to have any facts, proper research or idea of how election predictions are made.
My predictions are made on intuition and my ability to completely look beyond my sentiments and personal conviction to see what it is instead of what it should be. They’re also based on conversations I’ve had with people, things I’ve witnessed and experiences I’ve had.
If you follow my blog then you will remember how I predicted Donald Trump could be the next president of America last year in July, exactly a year later and he won the Republican ticket to be the presidential candidate and went on to also win the general elections.
I received a lot of heat for this at the time, with many friends assuming I was a Trump supporter; which wasn’t the case. I didn’t and still don’t like the man, but I understood the campaign he was running, because he had one aim only, to appeal to a target group of people so he could ultimately win the election.
And we can argue that Trump didn’t win the popular vote, but it doesn’t change the fact that MILLIONS of Americans voted for him, much to the surprise of many people especially the democrats.
And this is what the opposition should have learnt from this outcome; that a man so hated, having some of the most powerful politicians, networks, media houses etc unite against him like never in the history of America’s presidential race; still went on to win is nothing short of a miracle.
Against all pollsters, opinions polls and predictions, Donald Trump defied all odds and shocked Americans and the world at large.
If this doesn’t tell you the electorate isn’t as predictable and neither are the elections, then I don’t know what will.
Which is what many members of the opposition seem to be missing and why they may also be in for a shock.
They’re banking on the general perception that people are frustrated with the ruling party, and because of this want change, hence their campaign message.
But this assumption and the insistence that ALL Ghanaians should feel this way coupled with the campaign they’re running, is why I believe they may probably not win the elections.
They’re looking at the country through the eyes of the opposition, and this is one of the points I spoke against in my piece on understanding the Ghanaian electorate Your Ghana isn’t everyone else’s Ghana, meaning how you see the country isn’t the way everyone else does.
But because of this perception, they’re mistakenly campaigning AGAINST members of the ruling party and anyone else who doesn’t support this claim, instead of campaigning TO them.
This single mindset is why many of their following are quick to fight and attempt to silence anyone who doesn’t share in this feeling of frustration.
Forgetting that the whole purpose of a campaign is to appeal to voters and not bully them into voting for you.
Their confidence in this perception is also why the outcome may not only surprise them, but create unnecessary tension if they don’t win.
Because they’ve propped themselves and their following up for a guaranteed win, and planted the seed of doubt and a possible electoral fraud if they don’t, also very dangerous.
Notice that nearly ALL political parties accuse Electoral Commissioners of fraud if they don’t win, but are suspiciously silent if the same system declares them winners.
This is a trick employed by a lot of politicians; for instance, Trump insisted on a possible rigging, and when he won suddenly didn’t find the system to corrupt anymore.
What he didn’t anticipate was the doubt he casted on the system which created room for people to also question the legitimacy of his win.
Now it would be unfair on my part to blame all members of the opposition and it’s following for this behavior, I have very good friends in the opposition who are nothing like this, but they too agree that something’s definitely wrong if the majority of their following behaves like this.
By alienating a section of the people because their views don’t align with yours, will only make it that much easier for them to vote against your party.
I’ve had at least 3 people tell me they want a certain party to lose, only because they find someone on social media annoying.
Some Trump voters will tell you they didn’t like him, but voted for him anyway because they were willing to look past his inappropriate behavior, because of their disdain for Hillary.
And you may think it’s ridiculous for anyone to vote against a party just because of their disdain for someone, but if people voted for all the right reasons we wouldn’t have politicians sharing rice, ice and sewing machines for votes.
Elections are about nothing else but winning for the politicians, even if it means employing some of the most outrageous tactics like Trump did, by stylishly campaigning to the usually neglected people, understanding that the KKK also had votes.
EVERY VOTE counts, even that of the girl who’s voting because of someone she finds annoying; so the way your party faithful behave everywhere, including how they verbally attack people even on social media, will contribute to how people vote.
And this behavior isn’t unique to just the opposition, nearly all parties are guilty of this politics of insults, I’ve been called everything from a prostitute to a brothel by members of the NDC, however the opposition seems to be leading the pack.
A simple comparison of their reaction to even celebrity endorsements is very telling.
Celebrities and public figures who’ve endorsed the ruling party have been ridiculed, insulted, called money thirsty and all kinds of names.
Yet others who’ve endorsed the opposition haven’t received that much negative attention.
Why is that?
A few weeks ago I also witnessed an interaction on social media, where a supporter of the ruling NDC claimed that most of its members weren’t as bold to declare their position because they feared insults; a supporter of the opposition quickly responded by saying perhaps it’s because his party was a sh** one.
Imagine that?
A smart person would have ceased the moment to engage this person and if for nothing at all make him see her party beyond the aggressive tone it’s been associated with.
I’ve also had my own personal encounters with supporters of the opposition who’ve hailed me for speaking out against the ruling party, but immediately turned to attack me vehemently because I wrote in support of a decision the president had taken.
If you don’t see the state of the nation through their eyes, then there’s something wrong with you; which they have no problem expressing with choice words.
When Hillary called half of Trumps voters deplorable, she only gave people who were probably on the fence about voting for Trump another reason NOT to vote for her.
Which is exactly what a lot of people in the opposition are doing.
I still don’t understand how anyone was able to look past Trumps bigotry, inappropriate behavior and racist tendencies to vote for him.
But maybe if people, including me, hadn’t been so dismissive of them; we could have engaged and perhaps attempted to understand their position.
The silent majority does exists, and when a group of people feel silenced because of their position, they will band together to prove a point.
Now I’m not in any way likening the ruling party to Trump supporters, just drawing from their experience.
I may be wrong with my prediction, and we’ll know in a couple of days, however the backlash I may probably receive from members of the opposition because of this post will only reinforce what I’ve said.
Source: Classfmonline
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are you the only person going to vote on that day ? close your basket mouth
8 years is enough for one political party in Ghana. Change JDM since many cannot live of all the great infrastructure projects without a stable and growing economy. If Ghanaians keep the NDC for a single year more, the economy will indeed collapes. Remember the economy aftwr the 2012 elections? Becuase of freebies distributed at elwction time there was a big hole in our budget. It will be worse in 2017 if the ndc remains in power
I think you are right. I live in Tema, and most often, I see a lot of people openly campaigning for Nana Addo, but very few campaigning for president Mahama. However, there are a lot more who claim to support no party, yet these people will surely vote. I took another look, and I noticed that these people do not actually want to be seen as supporting ndc and therefore, will only show their thumb power on the voting day. I equally dont know,but I wouldnt be surprise if Ben Ephson's prediction turns to be right, afterall this is not the first time he's predicting elections in ghana
:) I have never been more prouder....Interlligent piece.
I like your peace, well argued. My only problem is you see all those who comment on this platform as NPP supporters. I am sorry you are wrong here. There are those who disguise themselves to rain insults on others. So please come again.
Funny when people in Ghana think they know what is going on in the USA. Since the recession, the USA has only bounced back on Wall Street. On Main Street where the average American lives it was not going well for many of us. So despite Donald Trump not being the best candidate for the job, many could not go through another 4 years of an extension of Obama's failed economic policies. Besides the rich elite only have one vote each and the average joe in America outnumbers them by millions of votes. So in the end, people from Main Street went out in their numbers to vote for anyone else but Hillary. Stop talking and let the Ghanaian vote next week Wednesday and let us see the results. And stop ***barred word*** kissssing the sitting government for their cheap politics and propaganda.... INDEED YOU HAVE BEEN PAID TO WRITE ALL THIS! Sometimes it's just wise to keep your political views to yourself!
Oh what else do we want from such a piece to learn sthg small frm this. Bravo lyd
you can never compare bunch of unemployed and hungry African citizens behavior to that of Americans......people are extremely hungry and frustrated, thus calling for change. the silent majority only base in America! Ghanaians need change and are ready for change! It was you this same lydia girl, sark and yonne nelson that initiated the dumsor vigil but when the time came for you to hit the streets, you and sarkordie disappeared. why was that? well you might be smart at biding jdm and ndc for your share of the loot by writing these pieces but you are not smarter than majority of Ghanaians. change is what the loud majority in ghana need and they are going to vote for change come dec. 7th. jdm b3 twa so, ama Nana Addo atoa so! change is coming. propaganda does not cut anymore........who settles for a gari, sardine, rice, scarf, bentua etc whiles others get 3.3million? jdm de go k3k3. by the way, I like that you see that the loud majority are expecting nothing but a win, that alone sends a message to all Ghanaian and the world that rigging will not be easy this time around cos the loud majority, who are not coward as well are going to calmly police their votes. the best you can do now is to chant for free and fair elections if you really love Ghana......Shalom!
In times lyk dis, to win from the opposition includes listening to petty but constructive contribution lyk dis.But i know my party ppl; book long and wise in our only eyes. Thanks lady, i wish they listen irrespective of how shallow or deep dt it sounds.I wish npp wins by taking serious the useful nagging of a woman ,heheheheheheh.Its 10 minutes after 5pm and next week by now i want to see calm. God blz gh
Lydia don't mind these ppl OK? They never learn. They are so predictable. You said it as it is and they confirmed it and they still think this can win them votes. If they don't change this attitude of theirs they will remain in opposition forever. Thumbs up Lydia