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Hello.
Ladies and gentlemen media,
First, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus would like to congratulate the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin on the occasion of his election as President of the Eighth (8) Parliament of the Fourth (4) Republic of Ghana.
We wish to affirm our unwavering support and continued cooperation with him to enable him to succeed as President. We are firmly behind
him and we wish him good luck.
We, the NDC Caucus in Parliament, have invited you here to address some issues relating to the 8th Parliament.
You will recall that a week ago, on January 7, 2021, the Clerk of Parliament read a letter from the Election Commission. This correspondence indicated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has 137 seats, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also has 137 seats and there is an independent MP. Thus: NDC – 137NPP – 137; and independent – 1.
From this official correspondence from the Election Commission, it is clear that neither the NDC nor the NPP have majority seats in parliament.
The independent deputy of Fomena
On the question of the independent deputy who indicated that: “I will join forces, for the purposes of doing business in the house, with the BNP
Eighth Parliament Caucus. For the avoidance of doubt, I hereby affirm that I will cooperate and collaborate with the NPP Caucus in the Eighth Parliament ”.
I am convinced that he is aware of Article 97, paragraph (1) (h) of the Constitution of 1992, which states that: “A member of Parliament must leave his seat in Parliament if he has been elected a Member in as an independent candidate and join a political party. “
So the question is, by this statement, to the Hon. Has the member for Fomena joined the NPP? It was Nana Addo who said he could not work with an independent MP. It was the general secretary of the NPP who wrote to the former president to have the NPP deputy for Fomena expelled from Parliament.
It was former President Oquaye who, on November 7, 2020, dismissed
the NPP-MP for Fomena of Parliament. Indeed, in his statement dismissing MP NPP-Fomena de Fomena from Parliament, former President Oquaye, among others, questioned himself as follows:
“… How does an elected independent MP operate both as an elected independent MP and at the same time as an NPP MP, if he were to win the election?”
Ladies and gentlemen, I have always said that consistency is important in our political discourse. Is Nana Addo now ready to work with an independent MP? What is the position of the NPP secretary general now?
And what about the decision of former President Oquaye? I
therefore asks the NPP to reconcile their contradictory positions.
Caucuses in Parliament
Let me remind you that there is no such thing as the majority caucus or the minority caucus in the Rules of Parliament or in the Constitution. Indeed, the official records of Parliament would simply state that the NDC has 137 seats, the NPP has 137 and there is an independent MP.
Regardless of the statement of such an independent MP, the records will always show that there is an independent MP in the 8 ″ Parliament.
Recently, Parliament has resorted to determining the composition of committees using the numerical forces of what we call the majority
Side and minority side.
Therefore, elected deputies from “small parties and independents
Members were required to choose which side they wanted to add to associate with or with which to conduct business in order to determine which side might have more members on each House committee.
Thus, we saw how the PNC, the CPP and independent deputies were treated
Previous parliaments.
Composition of parliamentary committees
Ladies and Gentlemen, Article 103, Clause 5 of the 1992 Constitution and Rule 154 of the Rules of Parliament provide that:
“The composition of committees should, as far as possible, reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament.
Does Parliament limit the different shades of opinion “to only numerical forces? We do not think so. It is on this point that the NDC Caucus will insist that the composition of the committees of this 8th legislature reflect its very current nature. The composition should reflect
beyond just numbers and cover other factors including committee leadership.
We know that in addition to the Selection Committee, which is chaired by the Speaker, the Rules of Parliament provide for 11 standing committees and 16 special committees. Of the 11 standing committees, the presidency of 7 is predetermined by the Rules.
The Rt. The Honorable President chairs the Selection Committee (Rule 151) and the Rules Committee (Rule 157). The Nominations Committee and the Privileges Committee are chaired by the First Vice-President. The second vice-president chairs the commission of full members of a profit office.
The Majority Leader chairs both the Business Committee (in accordance with Rule 160) and the House Committee (in accordance with Rule 168). In accordance with Ordinance 168, the Public Accounts Committee should be chaired by a member whose
control the executive branch of government.
The Rules do not pre-determine the direction of the other 4 standing committees, namely: the Finance Committee, the Gender and Children Committee, the Government Insurance Committee and the Subsidiary Legislation Committee. Likewise, the direction of
the 16 special committees are not predetermined by the Standing Orders.
The NDC Caucus therefore insists that, in accordance with Rule 154 of the Rules of Parliament and Rule 103 (5) of the 1992 Constitution, the composition of committees reflect the nature and character of that same Parliament. The practice of making a side of
the Speaker of the House of all special committees is no longer tenable under the current exemption.
Given the current numbers, there must be a strict division of the leadership of special committees between the two sides of the House. Of the 16 select committees, the NDC would chair 8 while the NPP would also chair 8. This would faithfully reflect the different nuances of opinion within the current Parliament, as provided for in the 1992 Constitution under Article 103 (5 ) and Decree 154 of the Standing Orders of the House.
Indeed, with regard to other factors to reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament, “we implore leaders on both sides to strive to nominate qualified people to sit on committees while taking gender into account, age distribution, experience, regional balance, among other factors.
Major reforms: – New regulation – An imperative
Ghana has never known a Parliament with an equal number of seats on both sides. It is therefore necessary that the House adopt new Standing Orders which will deal with the current nature and character of these 8 legislatures. Work is underway in this regard.
The House has no choice but to work with the current Standing Orders, despite their shortcomings.
Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen, without prejudice to the legal proceedings that the NDC has taken to recover the stolen parliamentary seats, especially that of Techiman South, appreciate that the good people of Ghana voted for a particular nature of Parliament This Parliament produced 137 seats each for the NDC and the NPP and I MP independent.
We, the NDC Caucus, will strive to do our best in providing the best representation that reflects the sovereign will of our people.
This is a new dawn in parliamentary democracy in Ghana, therefore, we elected officials cannot afford to let our people down.
Long live the great NDC!
Long live parliamentary democracy.
Thanks for coming.
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