Parliament meets tomorrow | General News 2019-01-28

General News of Monday, January 28, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-01-28

MEPs are scheduled to meet again tomorrow, January 29, 2019, to open the first session of the Third Session of the Seventh Legislature of the Fourth Republic.

Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye, in a letter signed by the Speaker of the Parliament, said: "In the exercise of the powers conferred on it by clause 112 (1) of the Constitution, the professor Oquaye, appointed by this constitutional instrument The House of Accra will be the place, and Tuesday, January 29, 2019, at noon, will be the time of the opening of the third session of the seventh legislature of the seventh legislature of the Fourth Republic. "

Legislators are expected to consider and adopt a number of bills during the third session.

The Right to Information Bill, which reached the stage of its consideration during the second session, should be adopted when the House resumes its work.

They will also have to review and approve financial agreements, contracts and ratify certain conventions during the third session.

State of the nation

All eyes will be on Parliament in the first two weeks of the resumption of the first session of the third session, as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is due to deliver the State of the Nation address to Parliament .

It will expose the current state of the country's economy and present its projects and programs for the year.

The Minister of Finance will also present the mid-year budget and, therefore, the 2020 budget by the end of the third session.

The fourth session of Parliament, which will be the last session of the current seventh legislature, will begin in 2020 and end on 6 January 2021 at midnight. Three sessions take place during the session.

Recall

The second session was marked by the approval of important commercial borrowings and agreements, tax exemptions, budget revisions and the adoption of draft laws.

There were also opportunities for disagreements between the majority and minority parties on the desirability of certain loan agreements.

As expected, both parties have sometimes criticized the true state of the economy in terms of inflation, Cedi depreciation, outstanding debt, and gross domestic product (GDP).

Majority and minority MPs have sometimes claimed that the government has better managed the economy by starting the debate on the 2019 budget and the government's economic policy.

Members of the majority claimed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government had improved microeconomic indicators over the past two years, such as lower inflation and interest rates, the growth of agriculture and the creation of jobs.

Minority members, however, said that the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had laid the groundwork for the NPP government, which showed the improvement of the 2017 microeconomic indicators.

However, he said the government's performance in 2018 was catastrophic with rising interest rates, inflation and declining gross domestic product (GDP).

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta read the 2019 budget of November 15, 2018.

After days of exhausting debate, the House approved the budget.

One of the main decisions taken by the minorities was the desire to boycott the registration of the national identity card (Ghana Card) because the voter identification cards n & # 39; 39; were not considered as one of the main registration documents.

The expectation that the 2018 Right to Information Bill (RTI) would be pbaded in the second session has not materialized, although significant progress has been made. in the legislative process at the examination stage.