By rejecting Ayariga’s motion, NPP has buried consensus-building - Ablakwa

The Member of Parliament for Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says the decision by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament to vote against Mahama Ayariga’s motion on the suspension of tertiary fees has buried the consensus-building they wanted MPs from both sides to use in working in the House.

According to him, the act by the NPP has shown that they are not willing to build consensus as they told Ghanaians hence they should say goodbye to any form of consensus going forward.

He said the MPs on the other side exhibited bad faith despite the back door meetings held in reaching a consensus for the motion to be accepted by all sides.

“By the extreme bad faith and filibustering exhibited by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle leading to all NPP MPs voting against the Ayariga motion, the test results of the two variables are now known to all.

As the leader of the NDC caucus in Parliament, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu asserted on the floor soon after the rather sudden and unprincipled U-turn by our NPP colleagues, the developments have injured our side’s faith in consensus building.

In the circumstances, I can only convey deepest sympathies to all tertiary students. You know we (NDC MPs) did our best.”

Read his full statement below

The Mahama Ayariga private member’s motion on the suspension of tertiary fees was significant in testing two variables:

1) What is the extent of commitment and sincerity by both sides of the current hung parliament to build consensus and work together in the national interest especially having regard to the strenuous efforts the Speaker made to get both sides to agree to a consensual motion and after multiple backroom bi-partisan meetings with leadership?

2) What is the extent of commitment and sincerity in fulfilling campaign promises, particularly the specific time-bound ones made to tertiary students for the 2020/2021 academic year to alleviate their plight due to the adverse economic impact of COVID-19?

By the extreme bad faith and filibustering exhibited by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle leading to all NPP MPs voting against the Ayariga motion, the test results of the two variables are now known to all.

As the leader of the NDC caucus in Parliament, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu asserted on the floor soon after the rather sudden and unprincipled U-turn by our NPP colleagues, the developments have injured our side’s faith in consensus building.

In the circumstances, I can only convey deepest sympathies to all tertiary students. You know we (NDC MPs) did our best.

At this point, may we proclaim: fare-thee-well consensus building. Rest in perfect peace. Read Full Story