SONA debate: Minority rejects proposal to reduce numbers

The Minority in Parliament has objected to a proposal from the Business Committee of Parliament to reduce the number of Minority members of Parliament during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate and instead replace them with more members of the Majority.

The proposal for proportional representation was tabled by the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, on Friday, February 28, 2025, during the reading of the business statement on the floor of Parliament.

By the proposal the time tested convention of affording the Majority and Minority sides equal representation during debates will be changed. Instead more Majority members will be invited to debate to replace the Minority numbers.

Opposing the proposal , the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said parliamentary debates should allow for contrasting views, which had traditionally been ensured by alternating speakers from the Majority and Minority sides. 

Debate

“What is a debate? To exchange contrasting views on what His Excellency the President has presented. Is there anybody on the Majority side who is going to say he disagrees with the President? No. What is going to happen,” he said.

He cited Standing Order 115 which grants the Speaker the discretion to select speakers, rather than any caucus determining numbers from both sides of the House to contribute to the debate.

Thus, he warned that deviating from this established convention by allowing multiple speakers from the Majority side before one from the Minority would undermine the debate’s purpose and limit diverse perspectives.

“Mr Speaker, the convention has been over the years, from the first Parliament, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, that when one person speaks on the other side, ostensibly to repeat what the President has said, you will get a contrasting view from another person from this side.

So, Mr Speaker, we should not fall for this temptation that we are now coming to do some proportional representation when it comes to the debate on the state of the nation,” he added.

The Second Deputy Speaker and NPP MP for Fomena, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, requested that the matter be tabled before the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, for resolution.