Tell us to find a new Speaker if you cannot continue but we must pass the E-levy – NPP MP to Bagbin
The squabble might be over in Ghana’s legislature but the two opposing parties cannot just seize throwing jabs at each other and this time around the Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority side, Habib Idrissu has called on the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to let them know if he can no longer lead proceedings of the house for them to search for a new Speaker.
This follows the Speaker asking the First Deputy Speaker to take over on Monday, December 20 2021 during the proceedings before the house adjourned till the next day.
Deliberations in Parliament over the E-levy was expected to end on that day but it rather ended up in a brawl and free for all scuffs.
An unhappy Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo Markin while addressing the press on Monday, December 20 2021 felt the absence of the Speaker was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the government.
“We will not proceed to take decisions without Mr. Speaker. We need him in the House because, by the technicalities of our own procedures, one of our people would have to sit in, and therefore he will not have the opportunity to have his right of voting as a member. Mr. Speaker must show leadership in parliament,” he said.
However, the Minority Caucus has outrightly rejected the assertions made by the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander-Afenyo Markin.
While speaking to the press on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, after Parliament adjourned sitting to January 18, 2022, Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi said Alban Bagbin’s absence was purely based on health grounds.
Deputy Majority Chief Whip has also asked the Speaker to let the house know if he cannot preside over the house any longer.
He indicated the Majority Caucus’ resolve to do whatever it can to pass the controversial E-levy when the house resumes, and there is nothing the Minority Caucus can do about it.
“The budget has been approved and the Appropriation Act has also been approved and the Finance Minister can go ahead with his plans, but it is the revenue component of the budget that has to do with the E-levy which hasn’t been approved.”
“So when we return, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin will come and preside and we will have our 138 members and they will also have their 137 and we will pass it. The E-levy is something that we will pass whether they want it or not. They should just tell the Speaker to come and preside, and if he cannot, he should tell us then we will find another Speaker.”
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
