By Favour Nunoo, ACCRA Ghana
The Speaker of Ghana’s parliament has suspended proceedings indefinitely following chaotic scenes in the chamber over a row about which party holds the parliamentary majority.
Last week, it was discovered
that four MPs had switched allegiance and would run for different parties in
the 7 December general election.
Speaker Alban Bagbin then
declared that their seats were vacant, arguing that the constitution does not
allow MPs to defect.
In a finely balanced
parliament, that decision - which is being challenged in court - means that the
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has become the majority party.
Last Friday, President Nana
Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) went to the Supreme Court to ask if the
speaker had correctly interpreted the constitution.
The judges asked the Speaker
to suspend his declaration until they made a decision. It is not clear when
their judgement will come.
Tuesday was the first
parliamentary sitting since the Supreme Court's directive to the Speaker - and
MPs from both the NPP and NDC tried to occupy the seats reserved for the
majority party.
Eventually, the NPP leader in
parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, instructed his MPs to walk out in order to
avoid any conflict.
The NDC lawmakers then started
singing party songs and marching around the chamber.
The Speaker said that without
the NPP legislators present there were not enough MPs to make decisions, which
is when he suspended proceedings indefinitely.
The suspension has significant
implications as it means the government cannot get approval for important
funding and laws, which could affect how the country is run over the coming
year.
Ghana has a reputation for
being one of the most stable democracies in Africa - but the outcomes of its
parliamentary and presidential votes tend to be very close.
After general elections in
2020, both the NPP and the NDC each had 137 MPs - with the NPP becoming the
majority party after gaining the support of a legislator who had stood as an
independent candidate.
It was discovered that four
MPs had switched allegiances only when the roll of candidates running for
parliament was issued ahead of December’s vote.
Many Ghanaians are worried
about the impact of this political turmoil, especially on the economy.
The high cost of living is a
key campaign issue for both parties and their presidential candidates, who are
current Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia for the NPP and the NDC’s John Mahama.
Akufo-Addo will be standing
down as president having served two terms in office.
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