Dr. Rasheed Dramani, Executive Director of the Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs, ACEPA, has warned that the current division in Parliament needs to be cured as quickly as possible.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Accra-based Citi FM, he submitted that more of what is happening now is likely to play out in the future.
For him, the danger in current happenings is to the extent that when next such an issue comes up, it is likely to be the case that the main opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, will be in power and it will be treated in a similar manner.
“I think we are going to see more of what is happening now in the future, and that is what I believe is creating this kind of division we are beginning to see.
“If you look at the position of those in the majority, it is as if the action of the Honourable Member has caused some embarrassment to their government, that is why rather than seeing them very tight and united in the face of this, you are seeing this division.”
He continued: “This is a very dangerous precedent because tomorrow it will be the NDC that will be in power should something like this happen in the future.”
The raging tussle between the Ghana Police Service and Parliament has exposed faultlines between the two caucuses in the lawmaking chamber.
Thursday, November 4, 2021; saw a battle of statements from the leadership of both sides of the house. First from the Majority Group accusing the Speaker of Parliament of not following existing procedure when he refused a Police CIP request to question a sitting MP over his role in alleged criminal offences.
Then came the reply from the Minority Caucus, which statement was signed by the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, in which he accuses the Majority of essentially seeking to undermine the authority of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Babgin.
At the heart of the exchanges is a bid by the Police to interrogate MP for Madina Francis-Xavier Sosu in the aftermath of a protest he organized on October 25 in parts of his Constituency.
The police say events that characterized the said protest – which they had granted permission for – required that they question the MP. After two failed ‘arrests’ – one they said was an invitation and another they denied – they have filed a case at the court.
The MP is facing two charges of unlawful blockade of a highway and destruction of public property in the aftermath of a protest he led against bad roads in parts of his Constituency.
But for the ASEPA boss despite public opinion being against Parliament as an institution, it was in their interest to close ranks.
“We want to make sure that at the very least, we want to see parliament is united. Public opinion is against parliament and if you have parliament already divided, it is not good for the institution and that is what they should have realized from the beginning”, he stressed.