Alban Bagbin while in Dubai allegedly admitted the Minority’s motion to set aside Joewise ruling
Leader of the Majority Caucus and legislator for Suame Osei Kyei Mensah –Bonsu has revealed that Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin seems to have approved a motion filed by the Minority caucus in Parliament on the 2022 budget while on a trip away in Dubai for medical review.
But the Majority leader insist that First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei –Owusu assumed full responsibility for the conduct of business in the chamber while the Rt Hon Speaker was away and said if that is the situation at hand then it does not serve as a good precedent for parliamentary practice in Ghana.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister also added that “The First Deputy Speaker is assuming full responsibility for the transaction of business in the Chamber, but my understanding is that the Rt. Hon. Speaker has minuted on the motion [from the Minority] that he has admitted it. If that is the case, then we are in for something dangerous.”
Initially, the Minority caucus had filed a motion challenging the conduct and ruling of the First Deputy Speaker on the approval of the 2022 budget on December 1, a motion which the First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu quashed.
It is in the light of this that, leader of the Minority caucus Haruna Iddrissu on Monday, December 13, 2021, released a statement serving notice of the caucus not relenting in its effort to challenge the First Deputy Speaker’s ruling on their motion to set aside the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
He explained that he will continue to pursue the motion when the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, returns from his medical trip on December 14, 2021.
Also, he maintains that the December 1 ruling by the First Deputy Speaker “contravenes the Rules, Conventions, and Practices of the House and was actuated by bias.”
“The NDC Minority Caucus which I lead, and my good self, vehemently disagree with your position on the motion and your conduct in this matter. We take the strong view that your conduct affronts Orders 79, 81, 82, and 90 of our standing orders and can no longer be tolerated.”
“In that regard, we are resolved to pursue this matter further with the Right Honourable Speaker upon his return,” Mr. Haruna indicated in his response to the First Deputy Speaker’s letter rejecting the Minority Leader’s motion for the setting aside of the December 1 ruling on the 2022 budget.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
