Don’t engage in scuffles this year – ACEPA urges MPs

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The African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) wants Members of Parliament to desist from engaging in scuffles this year during sittings.

According to the centre, MPs must work together for the development of the country.

Parliament last year began on a chaotic note during the voting process to elect a new Speaker of Parliament, and ended in chaos during a late-night session to consider passing the electronic transactions levy under a certificate of urgency.

In a Citi News interview, Executive Director of ACEPA, Rasheed Draman said the events that marred business on the floor of house last year must not be repeated.

“They have no choice but to find a way to settle issues amicably. They will have to deal with each other whether they like it or not and no matter how inconvenient it may be for them.”

“They will have to put aside their pride and work together to achieve a win-win for all.”

Chaos in Parliament
Ghana’s fourth Republic was faced with what was essentially a hung Parliament after the 2020 elections.

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 137 seats each, with one independent MP.

On the morning Ghana’s new Parliament was set to be sworn in, an almost five-hour deadlock over voting processes to elect a new Speaker of Parliament culminated in a brawl.

After the heated debate over the status of an opposition MP-elect who had been barred by a court from taking part in the inauguration of the new Parliament, there was a standoff over the voting process for the Speaker.

The NDC MPs insisted on a secret ballot in the belief that there were some NPPs MPs planning to stray from the party line as Alban Bagbin and Mike Oquaye vied for the seat.

For hours, scuffles broke out, led by the NDC legislators’ Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, who tried to make sure his opposing Whip was not policing the ballot that would eventually see Alban Bagbin elected.

Amid the tensions, armed military and police personnel even stormed Parliament’s chamber, adding to the chaos.

Another chaos broke after NDC MPs tried to prevent Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu from leaving his seat to vote after weeks of debate over whether he still retained his vote as the MP for Bekwai when sitting in for the Speaker of Parliament.

By: radiooneghana.com