Chaos in Parliament: A national day of shame – Pastor
A Reverend Father has described events that characterised the e-Levy debate on Monday, December 20, as a national day of shame.
According to Rev. Fr. Isaac Atta Mensah, parliamentarians throwing punches and disrupting proceedings in the House should be condemned in no uncertain terms.
“When brawl is used instead of brain by supposedly honourable men and women, democracy dissipates into kakistocracy. The path that this eighth Parliament in the fourth Republic has chosen isn’t only slippery but dangerous for our fragile and young democracy,” he wrote in a press statement.
Rev. Fr. Mensah added that “I, therefore, call on the Peace Council, The religious bodies, the Civil Society Organizations and all other stakeholders of our democracy to rise up to the occasion” and condemn the actions of the MPs.
This comes after proceedings in Parliament on Monday, was brought to a halt following the fisticuff among members of the two sides of the House. The chaos erupted when the First Deputy Speaker allegedly tried to vacate his seat for the Second Deputy Speaker in order to partake in the voting and proceedings.
However, refuting such claims, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained that the Bekwai MP rather wanted to excuse himself to take his medication and not to partake in the vote.
The Suame MP observed that the First Deputy Speaker’s ill health was so severe that he shook like a leaf.
Following the incident, Parliament adjourned proceedings to January 18, thereby cutting short any attempt to approve or reject the e-levy Bill.
However, Rev. Fr. Mensah believes that Ghanaian electorates are fed up with the petty partisan politics which, he says, has been the bane of Ghana’s development.
He stated that “the ‘winner takes all mentality’ and “the Minority will have their say but the majority will have their way” mantra must be nipped in the bud.”
Rev. Fr. Mensah explained that electorates would prefer that MPs build consensus and engage in more dialogues especially with the current hung Parliament.
“The intransigence, nay the entrenched position by both sides of the House won’t help the development of this country. Let our Parliamentarians be mindful that they have a social contract with their constituents and they cannot afford to fail them,” he wrote.
Source: Ghana News
