General News of Thursday, 23 December 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-12-23Parliament now shedding off it ‘rubber-stamp’ image – Kwaku Azar
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
MPs replicate ‘Wrestle Mania Royal Rumble’ in Parliament Chamber over e-levy
National House of Chiefs condemns MPs conduct
MPs apologize for brawl in Parliament
A US-based Ghanaian Lawyer, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, has stated that the old practice where
Read full articlehref='/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=3205'>Parliament was seen as only an appendage to government business in the House is now being shed off under the 8th parliament.
The 8th parliament, largely described as a hung parliament, has both NPP and NDC having 137 MPs each with an independent MP who has chosen to do business with the NPP side making them the majority group in the House.
Giving his appraisal on the activities in parliament on his social media timeline, the legal practitioner condemned the recent brawl which had MPs throwing punches at each other.
He said such acts must end.
He however acknowledged the critical role the 8th parliament is playing in couching a new image for the legislative arm of government as one which can hold government accountable.
“The rowdiness in the chamber is unseemly, unsightly and unnecessary. Although such occasional rowdiness is a global phenomenon, it must end. However, we must not fail to see that the chamber is shedding, even if slowly, its rubber-stamp origins and image. When the chamber barked, it reversed the 499 by the obnoxious GLC. When it flexed its muscle, it managed to stop the ill-advised E-levy from being rammed down the throat of Ghanafuo under a certificate of urgency,” he wrote on Facebook.
Professor Kwaku Asare charged the House to consequently do more in promulgating laws that will curtail government size and also bar political party officials from holding public office.
“Still the chamber can do more, especially by refusing to approve unqualified nominees, by curtailing the size of government, by passing laws that bar political party officials from holding public office, and by pushing the Auditor-General to surcharge those who have caused financial loss to the state,” he continued.
“GOGO salutes all 275 MPs and urge them to engage in less fisticuffs and more protection of the public purse and their constituents’ interest. GOGO does not mind when MPs passionately fight for what they believe in or what is in the interest of their constituents. What GOGO abhors is fighting for things that they do not believe in just to get along,” he added.
