Executive Director of Parliamentary Network Africa, Sammy Obeng says Ghanaians are tired of the display of gross partisanship in parliamentary affairs.
This comes at the back of Speaker Alban Bagbin suspending the House sine die (indefinitely) on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, over the lack of numbers to take a decision.
Sammy Obeng argued that these actions take a toll on the progress of the country, thereby urging both NPP and NDC to leave a good impression for others to emulate.
“Ghanaians are fed up with Parliament and parliamentarians taking them for granted and putting the party at the top against national interest and both sides of the aisle, the NPP side, and the NDC have failed in their responsibility by ensuring that they put Ghana first. This shows a Parliament that has not learned or reached out to each other and is overly partisan rather than championing national interest.” He mentioned.
He also lauded Speaker Bagbin for his show of professionalism in heading the chamber as Speaker of Ghana.
“I dare say as a watcher of Parliament that if we did not have the likes of Speaker Bagbin leading this Eighth Parliament, things would have been worse. His experience has been of help to this Eight Parliament because if we had a Speaker who did not understand the processing and procedures and the experience of having been in both majority and minority and in leadership that he has had, we probably would have ended up with a situation where things would have ended out of hand.” Sammy Obeng stated.
The Executive Director of Parliamentary Network Africa further admonished the House to build a united front in matters before them.
“Speaker Bagbin will be leaving the Parliament of Ghana stronger than he met it by having added a layer from where his forebearers left it. That is the more reason why these next few days must be used to deal with all the issues that had been a block on the conscience of the current Parliament and, in dealing with them, decide fully so that the record will speak in his favour. So far, he has been an added addition to this Eighth Parliament.” Sammy Obeng appealed.
The Parliament of Ghana has, for the last few days, come to a standstill after Speaker Bagbin declared four seats vacant due to 3 MPs seeking to contest the upcoming December elections as independent candidates and 1 on the ticket of the NPP.
This led to the NPP side of the House boycotting sittings while waiting for the judiciary to interpret the laws. They accused the Speaker of not having the power to interpret laws.
