Demonstrate true statesmanship - Afenyo-Markin tells Speaker

The Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has called on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, to demonstrate true statesmanship and respect the rule of law.

He said the Speaker must refrain from putting up non-reconciliatory postures and stop supervising the chaos and lawlessness that was currently unfolding in Parliament.

The failure of the Speaker to direct the Minority members to go back to their seat on his left side during proceedings yesterday amounted to supervising chaos and bringing the image of democracy into disrepute.

“The Speaker is setting the country on fire as he keeps showing a non-reconciliatory posture,” he said.

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Addressing the press on the happenings in Parliament, which was adjourned indefinitely yesterday, Mr Afenyo-Markin said: “Indeed, we the Majority Caucus call on the Speaker one more time to demonstrate true statesmanship.

“We want Mr Speaker to know that although we were not happy on the day he was elected, some of our colleagues, perhaps, had seen some good in him; it was not the NDC that put him there to do the bidding of the NDC,” he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin was joined by 45 Majority members, including the MP for Agona West, Cynthia Morrison.

Show the way

Throwing light on the current development in Parliament, the Leader of Government Business recalled that the Speaker made a pronouncement on the floor of the House which resulted in the NDC Minority Caucus proclaiming themselves as the new Majority.

He said the Speaker subsequently, at a pre-sitting meeting after the Supreme Court had stayed his ruling, told us “as leadership that he has not declared the NDC as the Majority and neither has he expressed a constitutional opinion on those four individuals”.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said the Speaker said what he did amounted to an opinion that he expressed on the statement by the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

The Majority Leader said at the pre-sitting meeting, he, on behalf of the Majority, enquired from the Speaker whether the Minority MPs who were seated to his right would be allowed by him to sit there since it was not their rightful place in view of his own admission that he had not declared them as such.

He said the Speaker responded that sitting arrangement of Parliament was the responsibility of the Clerk-to-Parliament.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said he went further to enquire from the Clerk whether he allowed the NDC Minority to sit on “our seats”.

But the Clerk said the name tags of the Majority members were already at their seats.
“So, obviously one was expecting Mr Speaker to tell the NDC to do the right thing but he refused,” the Majority Leader said.

External interventions

He said subsequently, the Council of State held a meeting with Mr Speaker and he, as the Majority Leader and the Leader of the House, had the opportunity to meet with the members.

“The understanding I had from the meeting as a sequel to the meeting they already held with Mr Speaker was to the effect that Mr Speaker would direct the NDC Minority to sit at their right place,” he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin explained that he subsequently had a call from the Peace Council that informed him that they had engaged with the Speaker on the issue before Parliament.

He said the Speaker told the Council that he had neither ruled nor proclaimed the NDC Majority and that should Parliament resume, the NDC Minority would go back to their seats.

The Majority Leader said several other prominent Ghanaians who had also engaged the Speaker on the matter had reached out to us the “Majority Caucus and assured us that Mr Speaker’s engagement with them resulted in he admitting that indeed there was no such ruling to proclaim the NDC as the Majority”.

Formal communication or ruling?

The MP for Effutu also recalled that the Speaker himself at the Speaker’s press briefing on Wednesday in Parliament claimed that he had not made a ruling.

“So, if he claims that what he did was a formal communication in response to a statement from the Minority Leader, then why is he supervising chaos in the House,” he asked.

Disputing the claims by the NDC Minority that the Majority members did not attend the Business Committee meeting as a strong reason to adjourn the House, he said that was never true since he was the chairman of that committee.

“When the Clerk-to-Parliament asked for the Business Committee meeting, I was very explicit that the subject matter of the recall was approved by Mr Speaker and it is the very matter for  consideration.”

“So, there is no need to have another Business Committee; this committee is to decide business of this House,” he said, indicating that he asked that all the items approved by the Speaker  be printed on the Order Paper.

Non-reconciliatory posture

Buttressing his argument, Mr Afenyo-Markin said fortunately, the Speaker himself read the two letters by the Majority requesting a recall of the House to consider urgent government business.

“Clearly, the NDC is on a warpath and they want confusion and lawlessness in this country, and all this is being supervised by Mr Speaker,” he said.

Disagreeing with the ruling of the Speaker, which he claimed to be an opinion now, he said the Majority members withdrew from the Chamber to pursue the Speaker’s ruling at the Supreme Court for interpretation.