The Executive Director of Parliamentary Network Africa, Sammy Obeng, has questioned Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin’s refusal to recognize Alexander Afenyo-Markin as the Majority Leader in Parliament.
This follows the Speaker’s decision to decline a request by NPP MPs for an emergency recall of the House to address urgent government business.
In his memo, Speaker Bagbin referred to the Effutu MP as the Leader of Government Business instead of the Majority Leader, as affirmed by a recent Supreme Court judgment.
Speaking on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah and Tutuwaa Danso, the Parliamentary Expert described the Speaker’s approach as concerning.
“For me, it was the most concerning part of the Speaker’s response to the memo. I mean, to have the Speaker throughout the memo avoid using the title ‘Majority Leader’ for Afenyo was quite concerning to me,” he remarked.
“The optics this creates, the impressions it sends to both sides of the House, in my opinion, do not help resolve the issues on the floor of Parliament or address the matters necessary for Parliament to sit amicably,” he added.
“The title Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, in my opinion, still remains that of Mr. Afenyo-Markin, and to see the Speaker clearly avoid using these titles—I’m sure the Speaker would have his reasons—but this was the most concerning part for me. In the memo’s main address line, referring to him as the Leader of Government Business suggests that we may not have fully crossed this hurdle,” Mr. Obeng said.
The parliamentary watchdog insists that the Speaker’s actions could have far-reaching implications for the leadership structure and the integrity of the parliamentary system.
Source: Ghana/Starr FM.com.gh/103.5FM/Benjamin Sackey
