Former President John Agyekum Kufuor says the solution to the stalemate in Parliament is within the domain of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
According to him, Alban Bagbin holds the wand for cool heads to prevails in the currently rancorous Parliament.
Former President Kufuor indicated that the onus is on the Speaker to mediate in the ranging controversy in the House stressing that government business would be affected if peace does not return to the House.
He stated that Speaker Bagbin must not supervise the disintegration of Parliament under his watch.
In a pre-recorded interview played on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Show on Friday, Ghana’s Former President urged both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucuses to unite for the development of the country and the best interest of the electorates they represent in Parliament.
Speaking in Twi Former President Kufuor said “I am pleading with (Speaker Bagbin) to call all of them for Ghana’s sake to sit at their right places; we have just about a month a to complete the life of this Parliament so there is no need for this rancour”.
Former President Kufuor’s appeal comes just a day after Speaker Bagbin once again adjourned the house indefinitely on Thursday, November 7, after Members of Parliament (MPs) from the NPP failed to attend the session.
The Speaker announced that without the presence of the NPP MPs, the house could not meet the quorum needed to make decisions, besides, there was no business before the house, thus preventing any legislative action from taking place.
The absence of the NPP MPs from Parliament came as a setback for the anticipated emergency sitting, which had been convened to address pressing national issues.
Speaker Bagbin expressed disappointment over the situation, highlighting that the absence of the NPP members rendered the session ineffective and forced the indefinite adjournment of Parliament.
“Matters that they wanted us to handle, which I admitted for consideration from the business committee, are not on the Order Paper and in fact, there is no order paper for today because the business committee could not meet due to the absence of the people who requested for the recall.”
“As you can see one side of the House is completely empty. In view of this, we have a quorum to sit but we have no business before us to transact. In the absence of that, there is no other authority that can put business before you that you have not adopted to transact.”
“In view of the failure of the business committee to sit, as a result of the refusal of those who requested a recall to show up, we are compelled to once again adjourn the sitting of the house. Knowing the challenges we are facing, it is not advisable to be adjourning from day to day. So, I will proceed once more to adjourn the meeting indefinitely,” he stated.
