Daggers are now drawn and entrenched positions appear taken in Parliament, with the flexing of numerical muscles by both the Minority and Majority sides, following the "rejection" and "approval" of the 2022 Budget Statement, all within a period of five days.
Days after the Minority - in the absence of the Majority - "rejected" the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, the latter, not to be undone, and in a re-enactment of the movie "Two Can Play That Game", caused the same budget to be "approved".
But moments after the budget approval, the Minority in Parliament pooh-poohed the action by the Majority, describing it as a "constitutional nullity".
At a hurriedly arranged press conference after Tuesday’s one-sided sitting, the Minority Leader, Hon Haruna Iddrisu, pointed out the manifest illegality saying the House lacked the required numbers to approve the Budget.
Whiles accusing the Majority of disrespecting the same constitution they claim to be upholding, Hon Iddrisu, who cited Article 104 (3) of the Constitution, and Standing Order 109 of Parliament to buttress his argument, was categorical that a "Deputy Speaker has no original or casting vote."
“Therefore if they claim that they respect the Constitution, they must respect the fact that today’s decision is a constitutional nullity because the Deputy Speaker has no original or casting vote. Nothing more. And therefore, they were at best, 137”, Haruna Iddrisu explained.
The brouhaha has to do with certain policies and initiatives in the 2022 Budget, which the minority wanted government to review and or possibly withdraw.
Earlier in the day (Tuesday morning), the leadership of the two caucuses met to jaw-jaw on possible compromises.
The Minority wanted the controversial Agyapa deal withdrawn, the proposed 1.75% E-levy reviewed to 1% and the threshold increased to Ghc200, inclusion of budgetary allocation for second phase of the Keta Sea Defence wall, amongst others.
With both sides not willing to back down on their positions, the meeting collapsed, following which the Majority went into the chamber without the Minority's presence, to conclude business of the day.
As a consequence of the Majority's action, Hon Iddrisu held that trust between the two caucuses has been broken and consensus building in Parliament trampled upon.
Thus, he said, decisions of the House will be based on "head counts", adding that the precedent set by the majority "will come and haunt them in future."
"We don’t support the E-levy in its current. Our point is to revise it to take care of the ordinary people.”
"From tomorrow every other decisions of parliament we will insist on head counts...If this is the way they want us to walk we are capable to walk with them....They have set and precedent that will come and haunt them in future. At the time that they were taking the decision the house was not 137," Hon Iddrisu added.
He disclosed that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, had assured them that their concerns about the 2022 budget would be addressed at the committee level, but the Minority insisted that it must be rather captured in the original budget statement.
“If you are acknowledging and admitting that there were concessions, let it reflect in the statement” and not a meeting at the committee level," the Minority Leader stated.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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People should take note that we don’t just read law and interpret it as graphic all because we can read and understand English, we read the law in its entirety and the spirit of the laws, this isn’t about NPP, NDC, so what happened yesterday 30th November is to set the records straight by the mistake of November 26 and that’s the right thing to do for Mother Ghana, and Ghanaians
Interesting is it lack of appreciation of numbers or just politics? U want tax to come down but u want Keta sea defense not in the budget to be in ?
ARTICLE 104 IS CLEAR AND UNAMBIGOUS (AFTER QOURUM, YOU NEED MAJORITY OF MPS PRESENT). THE OPERATIVE WORD IS MAJORITY MPS PRESENT. NOT ENTIRE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.NDC SHOULD never use supreme court to reverse majority illegality to reverse lawful decision under speaker Bagbin .When Bagbin arrives,NDC leadership should put in a motion to reverse illegality of NPP ON a day in parliament when NDC HAVE MORE MPS AND SOME MINISTERS ARE OUTSIDE JURISDICTION. A MOTION IS FILE AND QUICKLY SUBJECT TO VOTE.THE BOGUS INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 104 BY JOE should not stand .GENERATION MAY NOT FORGIVE BAGBIN IF this BOGUS INTERPRETATION IS NOT CORRECTED.NOBODY SHOULD GO TO SUPREME COURT TO SET ASIDE JOE INTEEPRETATION.USE SAME TAKASHII...NDC SHOULD NOT RUSH TO FILE A MOTION TO REVERSE THE ILLEGAL REVERSAL . COUNTING DEPUTY SPEAKER AS A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE TO MEET THE SO CALLED PRE CONDITION. GOD WILLING IF BAGBIN ARRIVED, LET THEM FILE A MOTION TO OVERTUNED THE BUDGET . IF 137 MEMBERS CAN FILE A MOTION TO MAKE ONE DECISION ILLEGAL, ANOTHER MOTION CAN BE FILED BY NDC 137 MEMBERS TO REVERSE ILLEGAL DECISION. DO THE NEEDFUL IN PARLIAMENT TO REVERSE THE APPROVAL IF BAGBIN COMES
When was the last time NDC minority agreed to approve Nana Addo's government's budget? They have not done it before and they will never do it. NDC always finds something in order to boycott it.
I am completely saddened by the action of our parliaments who see themselves as defending party interest other than interest of Ghanaians. Where is CPP and other alternate parties? They better come to redeem us other these greedy party people who do not have the nation at heart.
@Chartered Accountant, my logic is simple: if 137 can vote to reject, then certainly 137 too can accept or not? Secondly, the Deputy Speaker acting as Speaker does have an original vote whereas the regular Speaker doesn’t. Are you saying that his constituents should be denied a vote simply because the original Speaker has ‘chosen’ rather strategically, to be ‘sick’ at this time? Hat kind of sickness is it that you know not just when your treatment will be finished but also your recovery date? There is mischief in every soul oh
If there were 138 MPs according to Joe Wise, then the decision to approve the budget was done without a Speaker. This is null and void, and in breach of the Constitution
Mr Haruna and his NDC, headcount is the lawful and correct thing to do hence it will not hurt anyone but will be beneficial to Ghanaians. Parliament must abide by the constitution, period. The point is that you and Mr Bagbin miscalculated what would followed after last Friday's voting. Now you have lost and Ghanaians now know what you are up to. Victory for Ghana and no financial crisis for Ghanaian economy because of your determination to reject the budget.