Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, has stressed that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, seems to have lost control of the noble house.
Although he does not expect the Speaker to be neutral, he argued Speaker Bagbin has ceded control to the opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC), a party he belongs to.
“I love and respect Speaker Bagbin and I am pained by what I am about to say but his actions and inactions do not help parliament and I believe his control over the house is weak,” he disclosed in an interview with Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show.
The politician added, “I will not expect Speaker Bagbin to be neutral because he is from the opposition and they helped put him in his current position. Although he cannot be neutral, I expect him to be impartial and show he represents both the NPP and NDC, hence the interest of Ghanaians.”
Admitting the Speaker may be facing intense pressure from the NDC to do things their way, he urged Speaker Bagbin to be firm as he will largely suffer any disgrace which befalls the government.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin was absent from Monday, December 20, 2021, sitting to consider the Electronic Communications Tax, (E-Levy) proposed by the government in its 2022 budget, under a certificate of urgency.
Members of the majority caucus have alleged Speaker Bagbin’s absence was part of a grand scheme by the Minority Caucus to frustrate the e-levy which the minority has also labelled as baseless.
The house was thrown into chaos amidst fisticuffs during a vote on the e-levy bill.
The free-for-all brawl started after the Minority tried stopping Mr Osei-Owusu, who was presiding over the business of the house, from going onto the floor to take part in the vote.