The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern Region, Samuel Atta Akyea, has argued against Speaker Alban Bagbin’s assertion that caucuses in the House cannot solely elect their leaders without the approval of their parties.
Speaking on JoyFMs’ Top Story, he insisted that the law permits MPs to choose their leaders adding that political parties cannot impose their will on them.
However, the selection of a leader per parliament’s new standing orders can be done in consultation with the party leadership, Mr Atta Akyea noted.
“There is a new standing order that should govern the way we run the affairs of Parliament, and if you pay regard to that it is the caucus that will elect their leader.
“I am tempted to believe that if that is the position, the caucus will also have reference to what the party will say concerning those they want to fill for leadership and the party will also look at it. That kind of understanding will have a clear-cut situation of who the leaders should be. “
“But what I believe will be wrong by any form of political permutation is that the party is right to rob short the will of the caucus in Parliament, then that will be very divisive because if you force people on the caucus then how would they function?” he quizzed.
“The one who is going to become the leader should command the respect of the caucus. So, I think when it comes to the new standing orders, the role of the party is subordinated to the caucus, and what should happen when you do proper engagement, they always want to say that, ‘well, this is what we want to do,’ and then they also bring their input.
“Then they can arrive at a position which is good for the parliamentary party. But to say that you are outside the parliament and you want to dictate who should be the leaders, it will be so divisive. It is not going to bring about cohesion in the caucus. It will not help,” he added.
Early on Wednesday, the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin clarified that caucuses in the House cannot appoint their leaders, independent of the sponsoring parties.
According to him, MPs are in the House on the ticket of political parties, therefore, it is not proper for legislators to appoint leaders without the parties’ input.
However, Mr Akyea disagreed with this view. He stressed that it was contrary to the new standing orders.
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