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Minority leader in Parliament, the Hon Haruna Iddrisu, has issued a terse warning to the Majority New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the sense of cooperation and building consensus in the 8th Parliament has effectively been buried.
According to him, the House failed its first major litmus test to garner cooperation and consensus as its working tools going forward.
He explained that a ruling of the House Thursday evening on a Private Members Motion moved by the member for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, was significant because the consciousness of cooperation and consensus-building has effectively been destroyed by the Majority.
The Minority leader spoke to the media after the NPP majority voted to reject the Motion to request the President to have government absorb the 2020/2021 academic fees for students in tertiary education institutions.
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He expressed regret the Majority insisted on a vote immediately after the debate when many minority members were not present in the Chamber because of a directive by the Speaker for some to stay away in an attempt to decongest sittings to protect members from the Covid-19.
He said, “I can only be disappointed that a section of colleagues has been denied the right to vote by their observance strictly to the Covid protocols and the directives of the speaker.”
“How could we have left them out. Certainly not respecting the Constitution and respecting our Standing Orders …and the right to vote is vested in all and not persons who are in denial because they don’t want to help the surge on Covid.”
According to him, this means the majority NPP is not ready to cooperate and not ready to build consensus and warned they will find it difficult to appeal to the minority in the foreseeable future.
“What is particularly important for me is that with what has happened today, any day any time we will insist that after a debate the vote is taken.”
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“Whether any party or any side of the House has the numbers or not we will insist that the vote is done in accordance with our Standing Orders,” he said.
Speaking on the rejection of the Motion, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu noted that the government, which claims to be generously providing free water and electricity is not ready and willing to extend the same support to students in tertiary schools.
He said, “In the UK, something has been done to support tertiary and higher education students there and in other countries like Australia among others.”
“What the Hon. Ayariga was asking for was for the government to lessen the burden of struggling parents and students who are unable to foot the full bill at the university and require government support.”
“This could be provided for in the 2021 budget. Don’t forget that the government only has some money in advance of appropriation.”
“So going forward building consensus and cooperation may be difficult,” he stated.
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FrontPageGhana.com/Osumanu A. Marani
