You need to learn how parliament operates – Bagbin advises lawmakers
Speaker of Parliament Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has underscored the need for continuous education by Members of Parliament to enable them to effectively participate in the proceedings of the house in the discharge of their duties.
Alban Bagbin was reacting to an objection raised by MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin against the motion of vote of censure filed by the Minority against Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to the Speaker, members “need to sit together, dialogue and exchange views on the constitution and standing orders for the practice and procedures of the house”.
He added that “…we have the rulings of speakers and literature on the laws and customs of Parliament. The fact that the concept of democracy has remained the say of separation of powers and checks and balances, we need to have continuous education of these matters for us to play our role well”.
Following the resumption of the house this week, the Minority filed a motion to cause a vote of censure against the beleaguered Finance Minister for what they say fiscal recklessness and for supervising over a Cedi that has now been ranked the world’s worst-performing currency by Bloomberg.
However, the Effutu lawmaker raised an objection to the motion on Thursday objected the motion with the reason that the Minister has not been given a fair hearing.
“If you go through our order paper in this House, clearly committees bring reports, we submit applications and motions are advertised on their own. So a motion for a censure against the Finance Minister…Mr. Speaker, we should not forget that we are in a political space. The Minister has been condemned long before he is heard. The respondent in this application has been condemned with allegations, not facts. We all want a fair hearing,” the Deputy Majority Leader explained.
Ken Ofori-Atta has come under huge backlash with loud calls for his dismissal. The calls included a group of 80 MPs which has now reached 95 from the Majority group demanding that the President sacked the minister and a Deputy Minister of State for Finance Charles Adu Boahen. The group has since been impressed by the President and they have agreed to stand down on their demand until the Minister finalizes the engagement with the IMF which he is currently leading.
