The First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, says the Minority in Parliament cannot take the blame for the current hiccups in the proceedings of Parliament.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, July 22, 2023, he explained that all Members of Parliament are to be blamed for the struggles of the current Parliament on all sides of the House.
He explained that in the absence of the Minority caucus, the Majority MPs have the numbers to form a quorum for parliamentary proceedings to progress.
“Assuming just for the purposes of argument that the Minority decides not to come to Parliament for the rest of the year, the Majority has sufficient numbers to do business in the House.
“So, I will not blame the Minority for any failure to do business. I am saying that if there is a failure to do business, it is because Members of Parliament need 92 members to be present and we need 138 members to take a decision, in each situation, the Majority has the numbers,” he said.
The Minority has declared a boycott of parliamentary proceedings to solidarise with their colleagues who are facing criminal trials.
In the course of the week, the caucus retreated on the boycott, but says it will announce a new strategy escalating the protest.
The new strategy is to continuously raise matters of quorum, literally shutting the House down every time.
On Thursday, whilst the House considered bills including the Ghana UNESCO bill, it was evident that the House lacked a quorum to continue. This forced an early adjournment.
Commenting on the continuous adjournment of sittings, Mr Osei-Owusu said when it comes to legislation, the 8th Parliament has been the worst.
According to him, with more than a decade in parliament, there has never been a time where the absence of other colleagues in the House hindered the business of the day.
He stressed that the current parliament made it difficult for the leadership to control affairs in the house.
“Young people are in control; they look at things differently from the rest of us, so it is even good for them when their leaders agree to do it.
“Check the current parliament, it is always people from the back bench who come to raise this thing and not the leaders. What it means is that at this time in the parliament of Ghana, leaders don’t have control, the back bench has control,” he said.