Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu misleading Speaker of Parliament - Minority Leader
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Haruna Iddrisu is accusing the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu of misleading the Speaker of Parliament to take certain decisions.
He said the Majority Leader is not providing leadership in the House.
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The Minority Leader was speaking on Accra based Citi FM Tuesday morning, April 7, 2020, in relation to the suspension of parliament by its Speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye.
Announcement
The Speaker of Parliament on Saturday, April 4, 2020, when the House had concluded its sitting for that day, announced an indefinite suspension of the House instead of an adjournment.
The Speaker's reason was that his unprecedented action was Parliament's response to the general state of national emergency that the nation finds itself in.
The announcement by the Speaker agitated the Minority and caused a furore among the Minority, with its Leader describing it as an unacceptable, dictatorial rule.
The Minority Leader gave an indication that the Minority may head to the Supreme Court over the action of the Speaker.
Mr Iddrisu in the radio interview criticised the Speaker’s action and accused the Majority Leader of being the brain behind it.
According to him, the Speaker's decision to suspend the house indefinitely was against the laid down procedures of the House as he did not follow the Standing Orders of the House. .
"I am fighting and defending parliamentary democracy," he said, pledging that he would resist any "constitutional dictatorship.”
Mace
The Minority Leader explained that when the Speaker announced the suspension of the House, he walked with the mace of the House.
He said the mace of the House has three positions—"it is either upright or it is tilted. When you suspend the House, the mace is tilted; it is never taken away. Therefore when the Speaker was walking out with the mace; that is why we refused to rise."
He said Order 46 of the House provides "what position the mace should be" in all matters of the House, including when the House was suspended.
"You cannot disrespect Order 46 and think that you will be respected," Mr Iddrisu said, adding that the Speaker ought not to have walked with the mace.
He said the Speaker did not give any specific time that the House would resume but only cited the coronavirus pandemic for his decision to suspend the House.
He only said he was suspending the house "because of the circumstances of the time."
According to him, the Speaker applies rules differently for both the Majority and Minority in the House, stressing that impressions should not be created that the Minority was not cooperating with the business of the House.
Mr Iddrisu said he had no issue with the Speaker and that he only wanted things to be done right, saying “It is Kyei Mensa who is misleading the Speaker and he lacks conduct on this matter.”
According to him, prior to the suspension of the House by the Speaker, he had sent a text message to the Majority Leader, opting for an adjournment with a notice of recall instead of suspension but that was not considered.
Procedures
“I am disappointed because he (Majority Leader) is not providing the leadership,” he said, pointing out that the Order Five and Six upon which the Speaker suspended the house were wrong.
The Minority Leader said normally when the House "is closing, the Speaker comes in and politely ask Minority Leader, your closing remarks; I will make few comments and (he) turns to the right, Majority Leader, your closing remarks. Then he (Speaker) closes us. In this instance, he (Speaker) just walked into his chair, put his head on his table, and started reading and ended up with suspension. Is that the kind of democracy you want?"
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Majority Leader
However, reacting to the claims by the Minority Leader on the same platform, Mr Osei Kyei Mensa Bonsu, expressed dissatisfaction with the language used by Mr Iddrisu on him.
“I am really scandalised by the use of such words,” he said, noting that the Speaker followed right procedure to suspend the House.
He said it was not true that he had been misleading the Speaker and that he had done everything he was supposed to do as a Majority Leader concerning the business of the House.