Speaker of Parliament, the Rtd Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin, has settled debate on which parties constitute Majority and Minority caucuses in the 8th Parliament.
No party, he said, holds an advantage over the other in terms of numbers as both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) each have 137 seats.
He, however, indicated that since the independent member has decided to associate with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the conduct of business of the House, the NPP Caucus and the Independent MP now constitute the ‘Majority Parliamentary group.’
“I have not stated that the NPP has the Majority in Parliament, I haven’t stated that. Hon members, time will tell so hold your guns,” he stated.
The Speaker offered this clarification after an earlier declaration was interpreted by the NPP to mean the ruling party constitute the Majority Caucus.
The NPP, he said, attained Majority status following declaration by the member for Fomena, the only Independent Candidate in the 8th Parliament, to associate with that Caucus in transacting business in the House.
According to the Speaker, the Fomena MP, the member holding the balance in the current Parliament, officially communicated this decision to him.
He said, “What we have now is the NPP Caucus in Parliament together with the Independent member from Fomena, they now constitute the majority group.
This declaration, however, sparked wild jubilation from the NPP side with accompanying shouts and singing in gratitude to God and waving white handkerchiefs.
The parties addressed the press after the declaration of the Speaker with the governing party insisting the pronouncements of the Speaker has vindicated their claim that they form the Majority Caucus.
The NDC, in response disagreed and insisted the Speaker’s declaration was not a conferment of majority Caucus on the NPP.
Speaker Bagbin later noted that the essence of the terms he used carries nothing new in some jurisdiction but indicated in Ghana it is only on numbers.
“Whether you say at the left or right is of no consequence so far as the parliament of Ghana is concerned. We are not running the Parliamentary system of government.”
“What we have here is a horse shoe arrangement and clearly when you go through the symbols particularly the maze and the traditional meanings of the symbols, you would find that the good people of Ghana are not interested in this kind of partisanship.”
“The focus is on working together for the interest of the people,” he said.