Role of the leadership in Parliament
This is the concluding part of our article on the role of Parliament in a democracy started last week.
In that edition, we published how important Parliament is, how it is called in other countries of the world and the types of Parliament.
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This week’s edition focusses on the role played by the leadership of Parliament.
The Speaker of Parliament
According to information accessed from the website of Parliament, the Speaker of Parliament is the first officer of the House (meaning Parliament).
That person is one of the three highest officers of the State, ranking third in the official order of precedence after the President and the Vic- President. That is why anytime the President and the Vice-President are not around, the Speaker is sworn in to run the country.
The Constitution states that the Speaker shall preside in Parliament at all sittings.
The Speaker is expected to be impartial in the discharge of his or her responsibilities and in the exercise of the powers vested in him or her.
He or she does not take part in a debate on the floor of the House. The Speaker also has ultimate responsibility for the Parliamentary Service Board.
The First Deputy Speaker
The First Deputy Speaker acts as the Speaker of Parliament in the absence of the Speaker. Presently, the first Deputy Speaker of Parliament is Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the Member of Parliament for Bekwai in the Ashanti Region.
The Second Deputy Speaker
The Second Deputy Speaker presides over the sittings of Parliament in the absence of the Speaker and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament. Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin is the current Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
The Majority Leader
The Majority Leader is the elected leader of the party with majority seats in Parliament.
He has a deputy who assists him or her in his work.
In our current Parliament, the New Patriotic Party has the majority number of seats in Parliament. Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is the Majority Leader now and he is the Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency, as well as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
The Minority Leader
He is the elected leader of the political party which has the second largest seats in Parliament. He also has a deputy.
In our present Parliament, the party with the second largest number of seats is the National Democratic Congress. The Minority Leader of our current Parliament is Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who is the MP for Tamale South.
Whips
Whips are Members of Parliament appointed by each party in Parliament to help organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business.
One of their responsibilities is making sure the maximum number of their party members vote and vote the way their party wants. Currently in our Parliament, we have whips for both the party with the majority seats and the party with the second highest number of seats.
The Majority Chief Whip is Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh; First Deputy Majority Whip, Mr Matthew Nyindam; Second Deputy Majority Whip, Mr Moses Anim; the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka; First Deputy Minority Whip, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed, and the second Deputy Minority Whip is Ms Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe.
The Clerk of Parliament
Although the Clerk of Parliament is not an elected Member of Parliament, he or she plays an important role in Parliament we cannot ignore.
He is the principal advisor to the Speaker and members on matters of privilege, practice and procedure. He is also the head of the Parliamentary Service.
As head of the Parliamentary Service, it is the duty of the clerk to arrange sittings of the House; prepare the order paper and keep the minutes book.
Bills passed by the House are authenticated by the clerk for presidential assent. It is also the duty of the clerk to preside over the first sitting of a newly elected Parliament for the purpose of electing the Speaker.
In the discharge of his duties, the clerk demonstrates non-partisanship and impar