The Christian Council of Ghana encourages parliament to move quickly to reach an agreement on the 2022 budget and to take efforts to avoid future parliamentary chaos.
This comes after a scuffle in parliament on Monday night after a vote on the contentious E-levy bill.
In a statement, the Christian Council said that it is “deeply concerned” by the recent actions of parliamentarians and believes that such behavior “must not be allowed to continue, particularly given the effect on the country’s respect and dignity.”
They said that the act was both undesirable and condemnable.
“We respectfully remind parliamentarians that debates in Parliament must remain a platform for the exchange of ideas and not an opportunity for confusion and hostility. Ghanaians voted for you to engage in “debate not boxing,” the Christian Council said in a statement.
The Christian Council expressed sadness that the exchange of fisticuffs in parliament undermines the country’s democratic advances over the last three decades and is utterly at odds with lawmakers’ intention to expand democracy.
“Our country’s lawmakers must show the way to protect and deepen democratic processes in our governance system. Unfortunately, what we saw in Parliament is a negation of Ghana’s democratic gains over the past thirty years,” the Christian Council noted.
It emphasized the need of reaching an agreement in order to avoid future occurrences.
“We, therefore, urge Parliament to as a matter of urgency build consensus to ensure that the nation has a budget to work within 2022. We also urge the leadership of Parliament to put measures in place to prevent any future incidence of mayhem,” they added.
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SOURCE: CITINEWS
