Minority in Parliament under fire over walk out

The Minority MP’s in Parliament have come under heavy criticisms from the majority side and members of the general public for staging a walk out when the house was about forming a quorum to debate the 2016 budget.

Reacting to the decision of the Minority, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Hon. James Klutse Avedzi who expressed regret over their decision however said he believe “they were registering a displeasure.”

Hon. Avedzi noted that the development will not have any adverse impact on government, but rather Members of Parliament.

He explained that instead of the MP’s given ample time to make their contributions on the budget, they will have less time because “we have about five days and now one day is wasted.”

“If you’re to speak for say 10 minutes, you will now be made to speak for only five minutes,” Hon. Avedzi stated.

The Minority is protesting what they call disrespect by the President towards them, after he said on a campaign platform that the minority members were sleeping on the job.

However, speaking to Oman News, Hon. James Klutse Avedzi said he is hopeful the minority will rescind the decision after a meeting in Parliament on Thursday.

“If really the minority wants to be patriotic as their name portrays, then they should rather come to the House and work with the majority so that we pass the budget because the work is not only for the majority members of Parliament, it’s for both sides of the House.”

Meanwhile, a former Deputy Majority Chief Whip in Ghana’s Parliament, Sampson Ahi, has accused the Minority in Parliament of sabotaging government business.

He alleged that the minority, by their actions, are only trying to get back at President John Mahama for accusing them of sleeping on the job.

Sampson Ahi chastised the minority for their actions and blamed them for unnecessarily stalling parliamentary work.

“I saw that this issue is a planned thing. It was just a calculated attempt to thwart government business. I saw more than 20 minority MPs sitting at the coffee shop drinking tea. Some of them sitting down doing nothing and you just realize they were just sneaking out of the chamber one after the other.

Story by Michael Creg Afful

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