Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to bring the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, to order for defying his orders to spearhead a vetting and swearing-in of four deputy ministers noting that it is bad precedence that could open room for others to break the rules of the house in the future.
The North Tongu Constituency lawmaker’s plea came following the vetting and swearing-in of four deputy ministers when the speaker has given a directive on the orders of the President Akufo-Addo for Members of Parliament to observe the tree planting exercise as part of the ‘Green Ghana’ Project.
Joining discussions on Good Morning Ghana, the NDC legislator said he believes the Speaker has what it takes to intervene in the matter and take disciplinary action against the first Deputy Speaker.
“We believe there is some window there for the speaker to probably stop the process and exact some righteousness on the part of the first deputy speaker and the majority side,” he said on Metro TV Friday, June 25.
Okudzeto Ablakwa questioned the impatience of the First Deputy Speaker who is also the chairman of Parliament’s Appointment Committee asking, “I mean what really is the rush? It’s just four deputy ministers. It could have been done a day after or Mondays because we don’t sit. It could have been done on Monday and if it is about taking the report on Wednesday, we could have done that. What was really the rush?” he quizzed.
He expressed shock at how the First Deputy Speaker could still go ahead and flout the orders of the Speaker stressing “And you have the Speaker giving a clear directive that everybody should go and plant trees. To take part in the national exercise just like today. The Speaker has directed that there should be no sitting and that everybody should travel to their constituency and be ready for census because that is a major national exercise” he noted.
The political commentator for the NDC said it is highly commending of the Speaker who is an opposition member to have supported the President’s decision emphasising “So you have a speaker who though belongs to another political tradition, identifies what is a national course, what requires consensus building where we must all come together as Ghanaians first of all and support this important national assignment” he added.
He wondered the implications of the First Deputy Speaker’s behavior should his colleague Members of Parliament emulate and flouts the Speaker’s future directives.
“So I mean if you show such bad faith and you disrespect the Speaker in this manner, will you blame us when subsequent national occasions we don’t attach any seriousness or we don’t participate. Is that what you want? I don’t think that anybody will expect that. We want to see a responsible opposition, a nationalistic opposition, a patriotic opposition,” he noted.
By:Ernest Tetteh Kabu | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
