In the 1996 presidential and parliamentary elections, Ghana's two major opposition political parties - the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and People's Convention Party (PCP) - which are traditionally very bitter opponents, formed an electoral alliance to defeat Rowlings and his National Democratic Congress. This paper analyses the factors that influenced the electoral alliance of the two traditional antagonists, and explains the reasons for their failure, in spite of their alliance, to win the elections. It argues, among other things, that changes in existing political alignments as well as voting patterns accounts for the electoral victory of Rowlings and his NDC in the elections.
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