The 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic will resume sitting later today.
This is the first time the House will reconvene in the chamber after the 7th January’s chaos that saw legislators throw punches and destroy voting materials during the election of a Speaker.
The development also led to an invasion by armed military and police personnel.
The chaos has been widely condemned by a section of Ghanaians as shameful and infantile.
Ahead of the resumption, Leader of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Caucus, Haruna Iddrisu says he will get the house to take action over the incident.
“A lot will have to happen. We have to re-examine and look at our own conduct on events leading to the election and determination of the Speaker.”
On the issue of the security agencies’ appearance in the Chamber during the inauguration of the 8th Parliament, Mr Iddrisu told the press that: “I saw my friend ACP Ofori who was charging us for not respecting Public Order Act.”
“This time he didn’t respect the Standing Orders and Constitution of Ghana. He was in breach of our privilege. We will take consequential action,” the NDC leader in Parliament stated.
One other outstanding issue is which side constitutes majority with both sides having 137 MPs.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) claims together with the Independent MP for Fomena, they should be the majority. But, the NDC says there is no absolute majority in the house.
Deputy Leader of the NPP Caucus Alexander Afenyo-Markin says his side will invite Speaker Alban Bagbin to rule on that later today.
According to him, the Standing Order clearly makes provision for these instances, adding that “the so-called lacuna that the NDC wants to impose on us does not exist.”
“The provision in our Standing Orders makes it clear that in a situation like this, a Speaker must give an interpretation so let’s wait and do the floor work,” Mr Afenyo-Markin explained.
Source: MyJoyOnline
