Speaker console MPs who lost their bid in NPP primaries

The Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye has consoled sitting Members of the majority New Patriotic Party (NPP) who lost in the keenly contested parliamentary primaries held at the weekend and urged them to act as statesmen.

He congratulated the MPs who emerged victorious and encouraged them not to relent in their efforts at helping the government in national development and asked them to work harder so as to retain their seats when the country goes to the polls in December.

He added that election contests are meant to be won or lost and welcomed both the victors and losers back to the House after a rigorous electioneering campaign and expressed the hope that the outcome of the elections would not affect the business of the House.

The Speaker who was addressing Members in the House on Tuesday at the start of business urged the losing MPs to act as statesmen and assume some circumspection in all they do and in all that they say as far as matters of the House are concerned.

Members of the Majority Caucus in Parliament went to the polls Saturday, June 20 in their New Patriotic Party’s primaries to elect candidates for the December 7 elections but over 40 members including six sub-committee chairmen lost their bids to represent the NPP in the parliamentary elections.

Notably among these are the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah for New Juaben South Constituency and Chairman of the Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Committee Ben Banda Abdallah, who lost in Offinso South.

The Speaker admonished the MPs at both sides of the political divide that even if their party loses the general elections, they have a role to play either as the Minority or the Majority and called on them to attend to the business of the House with all seriousness and with all promptness.

The Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu lamented the high attrition rate of members of the House noting that the loss of over forty experienced MPs will surely affect business of the House both at the plenary and in the Committees.

He advocated for protection of experienced and long serving Members with wealth of parliamentary knowledge and practice accumulated over long years of membership of the House.

The Minority Leader and the Member for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu deplored the alarming rate of monetization into the electoral process which favours the highest bidder with the adverse resultant loss of experienced materials in the House.