General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has lambasted the Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye turning the August House into his palace.
Earlier, the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament sent a strong signal to the speaker of the house, Prof Mike Oquaye, that it would start an impeachment process against him if he did not shed his political cloak in the handling of the affairs of the House.
According to the minority members, the speaker has obsessively been biased against them and had persistently treated them with disdain, suppressing, bullying and denying them the opportunity to have their say, especially their leaders, who are supposed to be given unlimited space to express their views and sentiments on issues on the floor.
Commenting on the same matter, the General Secretary of the NDC said he believes the Speaker of Parliament thinks the House of Parliament is his palace, reason he has refused to heed to the opinions of the Minority.
He further accused Prof Mike Oquaye of practicing dictatorship in Parliament regardless the insights he possesses as a prominent lecturer of law in the country.
“The time is up to let him [Prof Oquaye] know that the Parliament is not a Kingdom for him to be a King. We are having a meeting to stop the bad plays going on against us. We will find a way to fight against the speaker who thinks the parliament is his palace to pave way for the minority to work effectively…” he said to Okay FM on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, Mr Nketia likened the present Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oqauye to the late former NPP Chairman and former Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, in terms of ‘disrespecting’ the views of the minority.
The only difference he cited between them was the fact that the former Speaker of Parliament, Mr Adjetey learned to respect the views of the minority after having the opportunity to attend International Speaker’s Conferences abroad.
With this, Mr Johnson Nketia said the Present Speaker of Parliament is a dictator, since he had not tasted similar opportunities as such.
“It was after Peter Ala Adjetey attended International Speaker’s Conferences abroad that he realized to respect the views of the Minority. He realized he had to allow the minority have a say unlike Prof Mike Oquaye who I believe haven’t attended one yet. That’s why he is treating the minority as such…” he explained.
“Even if someone is a dictator and later becomes a law professor, their behaviour still shows otherwise. Democracy is about accepting and respecting the views of others after making yours. The present speaker has lectured in Universities and written books yet a dictator in Parliament…” he added.
Speaker of Parliament now a dictator – Asiedu Nketia
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