By Christopher Arko, GNA
Accra, Aug.1, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Tuesday boycotted the rest of the proceedings over what they described as the biasness of the Speaker, Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye.
According to members of the Minority, they took this action to protest the conduct of the Speaker in referring a motion which has not been debated to a Committee of Parliament.
The Minority boycotted the House when the Speaker referred a motion filed by Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond on the AMERI Energy deal to the Committee of Parliament on Energy to exercise their oversight on the matter.
Mr K.T. Hammond has filed a motion asking the House to rescind its decision to approve the AMERI Energy deal which it took on March 20, 2015, for reasons of gross misrepresentation.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, speaking to the media after the boycott, said the Speaker’s conduct was in breach of rules and procedures in the House.
Mr Iddrisu observed that Parliament is a House governed by rules and procedures and nowhere in the Standing Orders is there a basis for the referral.
He said the Minority had initially signalled to raise a constitutional objection to the motion in referring to a Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
He said they had raised this constitutional objection in order to seek proper interpretation of Standing Order 93(10), whether any Member of Parliament (MP), on his volition, could decide one day that he wanted to rescind the decision of a previous Parliament.
Mr Iddrisu also demanded to know the position of the Executive Arm of Government, especially President Nana Akufo-Addo on the AMERI transaction because there are obligations and responsibilities as well as consequences for the state.
He said the AMERI Energy transaction that the Sixth Parliament considered was referred to it by the Executive.
He said Parliament was not the appropriate forum to deal with the AMERI Energy transaction but the courts.
Mr Iddrisu said the Speaker was not prepared to translate the Standing Orders in accordance with the rules and procedures though he was vested with the power to do so.
He said when he was on his feet to make his argument the Speaker did not allow him but only responded to the point of order by Mr K.T. Hammond after which he came out with his own conclusion on the matter.
Mr Iddrisu said under the circumstances the Minority had no option but to protest the manner the Speaker was endangering parliamentary democracy and its practice in the country.
He said in parliamentary democracy the Minority would always have it say, adding that they would jealously protect that right and demand that it was respected.
Mr Iddrisu noted that Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, when they were in minority, was able to ask many supplementary questions but now they were being denied that opportunity.
He said democracy in Ghana was evolving and that the Speaker must respect the Minority and allow them to have their say.
He said the exercise of parliamentary question was an instrument of oversight and throughout the country’s democratic history the majority party had not been interested in oversight because it tended to bring embarrassment to the Government.
GNA
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