Majority, Minority clash over Speaker
The Minority in Parliament has expressed worry about the manner in which the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, is handling affairs in Parliament.
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It described the Speaker's decisions as bias and discriminatory against Minority Members of Parliament (MPs).
It has, therefore, served notice that if the Speaker does not mend his ways, it will use available options, including filing a motion to challenge his conduct and initiating an impeachment process against him.
Addressing journalists in Parliament on Thursday, the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, said the Minority was disappointed in the manner in which Prof. Oquaye was handling affairs since he became the Speaker.
He said the Speaker did not treat the Minority with respect and also denied them the opportunity to express themselves.
Alhaji Muntaka said the Minority expected the Speaker to exhibit his discretionary powers in a fair manner as required by the Constitution.
He said once the Speaker symbolised Parliament, the Minority would not want to take any action to touch his image.
He, however, stated that if the Speaker continued to show disrespect to the Minority leadership, the Minority would be forced to go for all options available in the Standing Orders of Parliament, including impeachment, since they had more than one third majority to tread that path.
Alhaji Muntaka said the Speaker displayed disrespect to the Minority even at meetings in his holding rooms, while businesses of the House were varied without the notice of the Minority.
He said the Minority leadership had met the Speaker on many occasions and registered their protest at his decisions, but the situation persisted.
Near boycott
Yesterday’s decision of the Minority to go public was ignited by earlier events in the House.
First, Alhaji Muntaka had asked the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, questions about the Planting for Food and Jobs programme
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When the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, stood up to ask his question, the Speaker said he had already indicated that the leadership would only have one chance, meaning only one person in the leadership would have the opportunity to ask the question.
The Speaker, however, allowed Mr Iddrisu to ask one question but Mr Iddrisu said if he would be allowed to ask one question, he would not ask the question.
The Speaker then ruled that henceforth, the leadership "will have only one bite at the cherry."
After the ruling, members of the Minority wanted to stage a walkout but Mr Iddrisu prevailed upon them to stay back.
The second instance was when Alhaji Muntaka indicated that he rose earlier to raise an objection to why a question on the resettlement of the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees, which was captured in last Wednesday's Order Paper, was not in yesterday’s Order Paper.
He said he wanted to know why a provision was rather made for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to present an agreement between the government and the United States of America on the resettlement, but the Speaker did not notice him.
Alhaji Muntaka said the Speaker’s action of not recognising the leadership to raise issues amounted to stifling the Minority.
"You have to give us space to do our work", he said.
But the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said per the Standing Orders of Parliament, a member was not supposed to question the conduct of a Speaker or the Chief Justice.
He said if an MP had an issue with the conduct of the Speaker, he had to come by a motion, since Parliament was a House of rules and procedures.
"It is not right to refer to the conduct of the Speaker by banging a table. That is not acceptable," he stated.
When he had his turn, Mr Iddrisu said he had risen earlier to indicate that he would make an application because he was not happy with the ruling of the Speaker.
He said parliamentarians were masters of their own rules, and indicated that parliamentary questions were very crucial to ensuring oversight.
Therefore, he said the Speaker’s decision to limit his questions "will be an attempt to stifle me."
Thereafter, the Minority members, including all the leadership, filed out of the chamber; only about five members of the Minority were left in the chamber.
The Communications Spokesperson of the Minority, Alhaji A.B.A. Fuseini, told the Daily Graphic that the Minority had not staged a walk out but it was the decision of the Minority leadership that they would not participate in the business of the day.
Threats amounts to contempt
Speaking with journalists later, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the threat by the Minority to impeach the Speaker was against the Standing Orders and amounted to contempt of Parliament.
He said the Speaker of Parliament had been largely fair to both sides of the House and indicated that members had avenues to address their concerns.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said it was not healthy for the leadership, which was supposed to support the Speaker, to be at loggerheads with him.
He added that he would make sure that the rights of the Minority were protected.
