Parliament weakens itself when MPs run to courts for favours – Bagbin

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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has expressed his belief in a Parliament that is respected and given its rightful authority on political matters, as established by law and past rulings.

According to him, Parliament should defend its constitutional prerogatives and avoid becoming a rubber-stamp institution, subservient to the executive or judiciary.

Addressing the media in Parliament on Wednesday, November 6, Speaker Bagbin noted that this vision has not yet been fully realized in Ghana’s Parliament.

He explained that Parliament “weakens itself” when Members frequently turn to the courts for favorable rulings on matters that are essentially political and governance-related, rather than strictly legal.

“It is my strong belief that the matter before the Supreme Court can be settled within Parliament through mature deliberations and compromises,” he stated.

“I hope that, in my lifetime, Ghana will have a Parliament and a Speaker truly independent of Jubilee or Flagstaff House or any headquarters in the conduct of parliamentary business,” he added.

Speaker Bagbin affirmed that Parliament’s duty is owed to the people who established it and elected its members. He assured that Parliament’s operations would continue undisturbed, and no individual would be permitted to undermine its democratic mandate.

Parliament, he emphasized, must be empowered to fulfill its legislative role, including its crucial responsibility to oversee the president. “The wheels of Parliament will continue to turn, and no person will be allowed to disrupt parliamentary proceedings or undermine the democratic mandate of Parliament,” he asserted.

He further explained that while the public, media, civil society, and other governance partners can contribute and critique government actions, “these bodies are not constitutionally and legally structured and mandated to hold the executive accountable.”

Instead, he stated that Parliament, as an elected institution, embodies “the will of the people, legally and constitutionally structured and mandated to do so.”

“My dream, therefore, is a patriotic one: the existence of a firm, effective, efficient, and responsive Parliament whose members prioritize national and constituency interests over narrow, partisan, or personal interests,” the Speaker concluded.

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