Fooling the eye: Zeal for separation of powers or party partiality?

Certain artworks confuse the eye when watching.

It projects two or more images that alternate as you look at the picture from different angles. 

I watched a Japanese documentary showing different kinds of such artworks, titled: Fooling the Eye.

At the moment, we have all plunged into similar confusion with this current impasse in Parliament and the Speaker’s position on the issue.

The Speaker's stance on the issue  presents the Ghanaian public with two different pictures of his personality. The kind of person you perceive Mr Alban Bagbin to be depends on where you stand.

One picture is projecting an image of an avowed defender of Legislative power under the democratic principle of separation of powers and the other image also depicts a person who is partial to a political party. Both images are alternating and reflecting before our eyes as we witness the happening in Parliament.

One picture

There is no doubt that since assuming the office as Speaker, Alban Bagbin has made all the effort to steer proceedings in the House in an impartial manner through some of his rulings and pronouncements, both within and outside Parliament.

With his years of experience in parliamentary practice and procedure, politics and record as the longest-serving MP in the Fourth Republic, it does not come with much surprise he managed to sail through unscathed in that tumultuous election in Parliament.

Many opposition MPs have sometimes admired most of his rulings, as some have gone against the interest of his party in the House.

This is where the picture of Bagbin as a principled, impartial and mature Speaker is more pronounced. A speaker who is always ready to defend the authority of Parliament as the principle of separation of powers under our Constitution dictates.

Other picture

For the past weeks, the tension generated by the Speaker’s ruling in the House on the issue of crossing carpet by the four members of the house seems to be painting a different picture, which looks different from what many know of him.

Since the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution, which did not go in his favour and also fell short of the expectation of the minority caucus in Parliament, his entrenched and uncompromising position is painting a different picture with a reflection and superimposition of an image not known previously.

As Parliament stands idle, important bills that need to be passed and the fact of wasting money because of the frequent adjournments of the House persists, and that new picture about the Speaker will keep reflecting to confuse Ghanaians the more – Which one is the reality of the Bagbin we know? 

The writer is with the Institute of Current Affairs and Diplomacy (ICAD).
E-mail: Lawmat2014@gmail.com