The Majority in Parliament has pledged to engage the Minority on the proposed Constitutional Instrument (C.I) seeking to make the National Identification Card (Ghana card) the only proof of citizenship for registering as a voter.
The Caucus said many Ghanaians speaking on the CI are not doing so from an informed perspective and therefore need a lot of education.
Majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who gave this assurance said the sheer shenanigans the opposition has foisted around the matter has totally confused the Ghanaian public.
He was speaking at a press conference on Thursday, March 2 in response to a threat by the Minority they will not allow the CI to be laid.
Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Jean Mensah on Tuesday, March 1, 2023, addressed Parliament on the proposed CI and why the Commission wants it passed.
The Minority has, however, insisted the CI, if passed in its current form will disenfranchise many vulnerable voters, and will therefore not allow it to be laid.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu questioned how the Minority expects to stop the CI from being laid.
He said, “I don’t see how the Minority can say they will not allow it. Yes, the Constitution provides you the way, and if you don’t like it, oppose it.”
“It is established in Article 11 of the Constitution. This is a legislative instrument, it is a Regulation; Article 11 Clause 7 provides, ‘Any order, rule or regulation made by any person or authority under a power conferred by this Constitution or any other law shall be laid in Parliament, be published in the Gazette on the day it is laid before Parliament.”
“It comes into force on the expiration of 21 days after being so laid unless Parliament, before the expiration of 21 days annuls the order, rule or regulation by votes of not less than 2/3 of all Members of Parliament.”
“That is the constitutional provision and that is the path established for us under the rule of law. It’s not about physicalities,” he added.