Ghana - 2000 Election
The December 2000 elections ushered in the first democratic presidential change of power in Ghana's history when John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeated the NDC's John Atta Mills, Rawlings’ Vice President and hand-picked successor. Six opposition parties and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) contested the presidential and parliamentary elections in December which, despite a few incidents of intimidation and election fraud, domestic and international observers judged generally free and fair.
In the first round of the presidential elections, John Agyekum Kufuor of the NPP garnered 48.2 percent of the votes, followed by Vice President John Evans Atta Mills with 44.5 percent. On December 28, a presidential runoff was held in accordance with the constitutional requirement that the president be elected with at least 50 percent plus one of the votes. On 28 December 2000, the NPP candidate John Agyekum Kufuor became president-elect with 56.7 percent of the vote. Kufuor defeated Mills by winning 56.73% of the vote, and assumed office on January 7, 2001.
The largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), won 100 seats out of the 200 seats in Parliament. The NDC, President Rawlings' party, won 92 seats; independents and 2 smaller opposition parties won 8 seats. After several by-elections were held to fill vacated seats, the NPP majorityhad 103 of the 200 seats in Parliament, the NDC held 89, and independent and small party members held eight.
The presence of a significant number of opposition parliamentarians has led to increased scrutiny of the Government's activities. During the year 2000, opposition members expressed frustration about impediments that the executive branch imposed by its refusal to support opposition amendments to proposed legislation. Parliament still is working to develop effective oversight of the workings of the executive branch. Although all M.P.'s can introduce bills, no one has ever done so; however, some have introduced motions.
The country continued its transition from a one-party state to a more established multiparty constitutional system. The political system includes recognized opposition parties, which express their views freely within Parliament and won a majority of the parliamentary seats in the December election. In November and December 2000 soldiers mounted roadblocks outside opposition strongholds, in what many observers interpreted as attempts to intimidate voters.
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