The African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) has cautioned that each side of the house’s entrenched stance would have ramifications for parliamentary activity and Ghana’s democratic process.
According to the think tank, ACEPA, if the present spat between the two sides is not resolved immediately, the country’s democracy would suffer.
The Majority decided to adopt the 2022 Budget after the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, pronounced Parliament’s rejection of the budget last Friday, November 26, 2021, null and void.
The rejection of the budget statement by 137 minority members was unconstitutional, according to the First Deputy Speaker, and the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, erred in his judgement.
The Minority Caucus, on the other hand, has rejected the Majority’s ratification of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
At a press conference on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu argued that the action is null and void since the Majority lacks the requisite number for budget approval.
“The Constitution says a deputy Speaker shall not retain his original vote while presiding, so constitutionally they were also 137, so Ghanaians should expect that what they have done is also a nullity to quote them. The precedent they are setting will haunt them in the future.”
Regardless, Dr Rasheed Draman, Executive Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs, advised in a Citi News interview that rather than taking entrenched stances, both sides should begin to dialogue.
As a result, he urged both sides’ leaders to focus on establishing bridges rather than adopting entrenched political positions.
“Some would say winners and losers. So there were winners on Friday and losers on Monday, and also losers on Friday and winners on Monday. This is a very interesting development, and we wait to see what happens in the coming days. But at the end of it all, the two sides cannot run away from trying to build bridges which is very important, otherwise, the acrimony that we see is not going to augur well for the rest of the time that we have with this Parliament.”
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SOURCE: CITINEWS
