Ghana: Consensus building in Parliament will suffer if Majority Caucus continues to attack me – Bagbin

Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin says consensus building in Parliament will suffer should the Majority Caucus continue to attack his personality.

Citing attacks by the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin and some other New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs, Mr Bagbin observed that their activities obstruct any possibility of any resolution in the House.

In December 2021, Mr Afenyo-Markin accused the Speaker of conspiring with his party to ensure that the budget was not passed.

According to him, when leadership of the House had met with the Speaker to determine the best way to resolve the impasse over the budget, Mr Bagbin alluded to some damning social media reactions directed at him by political commentator Kevin Taylor.

But in an interview with state broadcaster GBC, Mr Bagbin said, “In fact, one of them said I should learn how to lead. It’s because of the level of leadership I am at, he [Afenyo Markin] doesn’t understand it.

“You come and personally attack me, then you come to the House and you expect that we should have that spirit of consensus building; things don’t work that way,” he said.

Mr Bagbin further accused the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu of causing the debacle that broke out in Parliament in December.

According to him, the Bekwai lawmaker’s decision to participate in the voting process on the E-levy while presiding over the House was out of turn.

“To be frank with you, my First Deputy Speaker was wrong in even announcing that he was going to vote, and so when the Second Deputy Speaker voted, he then called on him to come and take over so that he’d also go and vote…that’s what led to the fisticuffs,” Mr Bagbin said.

“I left Parliament after 10 pm, and I sent my closing remarks for the day, and that’s for the session through my usher to the Second Deputy Speaker that at the conclusion of the debate, ‘you will read this as my closing remarks for the session.’ And so I had given notice that I will not be available even to read my closing remarks, and I left for my house because I was so tired.”

“Now what happened on the floor, I am being said to be the cause of it; so, where are we now? This blame game would not wash; it would not. It was a low blow to me,” he insisted.

source: joyonline