North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has described the stalemate in Parliament as ‘needless and regrettable.’
He accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus and their leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin of disrespecting the Speaker’s ruling on the four disputed seats and causing the stand-off.
According to him, the situation could easily have been averted if the NPP group had simply abided by Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin’s ruling on the four vacant seats.
Afenyo-Markin, he said, could then have engaged the speaker and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) caucus leadership to have an amicable settlement instead of running off to the courts.
The North Tongu MP was responding to accusations by Afenyo-Markin on Joy News that the Speaker was colluding with the NDC caucus to hold government business hostage.
He said, “There are so many important issues that have not been addressed, that have not received parliamentary attention because of this needless impasse.”
“If Afenyo-Markin and his side had just respected the authority of the Speaker, this stalemate in Parliament wouldn’t be where it is today.”
Afenyo-Markin is livid at Alban Bagbin’s decision not to grant his request to recall the House before the December 7 elections, accusing the Speaker of treating Parliament as his personal property and deciding arbitrarily when to reopen it for government business.
“Look at the shutdown they are doing in Parliament. Today, the Speaker has taken Parliament as his personal property. As and when it pleases him, he opens Parliament. Even when there is an issue that he could sit with us on, he says no,” Afenyo-Markin lamented.
The Majority Leader had submitted a memo requesting the Speaker to recall Parliament to deliberate on urgent government business before the end of November.
However, in a response dated Tuesday, 26th November, Alban Bagbin declined the request, indicating that the House would only reconvene after the December 7 general elections to address government matters.
