The outgoing Majority Leader in Parliament and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has expressed concerns about the challenges the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs would face following their landslide victory in the 2024 elections.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on the state of Parliament, Mr Afenyo-Markin outlined potential challenges the MPs could face, particularly with its promise to operate a lean government.
The NDC has announced plans to reduce the size of the government to 60 ministers if they come to power.
However, Mr Afenyo-Markin foresees this pledge creating significant problems for the party.
“They’ve promised 60 Ministers, and of the 60, some would have to come from Parliament because of the constitutional custom,” he explained.
“So, they are going to have about 35 or a maximum of 40 MPs who will be Ministers and deputy Ministers. If you take that out of their 170 plus seats, they will have about 140 MPs who will be redundant in Parliament.”
He highlighted that with a reduced ministerial team, many NDC MPs would be left without additional responsibilities beyond their parliamentary duties.
According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, this could lead to frustrations as these MPs contend with demands from their constituents but lack the financial resources to meet them.
“These MPs would have demands from their constituents and will be expected to go to their constituencies, and the money will not be there because only a few would have had ministerial appointments,” he remarked.
Recounting his own experiences with the current government, Mr Afenyo-Markin noted that a similar situation had previously affected the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He recounted the difficulties in mobilizing MPs for parliamentary proceedings due to such frustrations.
“It got to a point where it was very difficult to get our members into the chamber, where Mr Speaker would tell me, ‘Leader, look behind you.’ Very soon, I would tell their Majority Leader, ‘Look behind, though you have 170 plus, but your MPs will not be there,’” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin MP believes this dynamic could weaken the NDC’s ability to function effectively in Parliament even with a clear majority.
He warned that the sheer number of MPs without ministerial portfolios could result in a lack of enthusiasm and participation in parliamentary activities, reducing their contributions to little more than echoing affirmations in the chamber.
“All they would have to come and do in Parliament is to do ‘yeah yeah,’” he stated.
With the NDC now holding a majority in Parliament, Mr Afenyo-Markin’s observations shed light on the potential challenges of balancing governance with parliamentary performance.
His insights underscore the complexities of fulfilling campaign promises while managing the expectations of a large caucus and its constituents.
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