Jettison the “majority” and “minority” labels in Parliament – Bright Simons

Newly-appointed Senior Visiting Fellow at ODI Global, a globally recognized Think Tank, Bright Simons has said Ghana’s Parliament should abandon the Majority and Minority labels in Parliament.

He wants Parliament to us for the “Leader of Government Business” and “Leader of Opposition” titles instead.

In a post on his X page reacting to the decision of the Supreme Court in the vacant seat case, Bright Simons, also a Vice President of IMANI Africa said “My understanding is that the Supreme Court ruled that the 4 seats are not vacant. Did they also rule that the 3 ruling party MPs running as independents are still Members of the NPP? Was that matter really before the Supreme Court? I don’t think it was. I’m, thus, not sure that there is a simple judicial solution to what is primarily a political fracas.

“Because the issue of which side deserves the majority aisle remains contentious. The truly simple solution is to abandon the “majority” and “minority” labels and adopt the ‘Leader of government business’ and ‘Leader of opposition’ titles in line with the “co-leader” provision in the new standing orders till the end of this Parliament’s life. It should be clear by now to everyone that the law is better off accommodating political reality than pretending that there is some mathematical certainty in its results.”

Making a similar remark, the Dean of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School Professor Ernest Kofi Abotsi also said that the constitution does not recognize the concept of the Majority and Minority sides in Parliament,

Prof Abotsi explained that this concept came as a result of parliamentary law and practice.

His comments come at a time when the Supreme Court has by a 5-2 majority decision upheld the suit filed by Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

With the latest ruling by the Supreme Court, Parliament is expected to be recalled with the NDC MPs reverting to their original Minority status.

 

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