Speaker declines request to recall House

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has declined a request by the Majority Leader, Afenyo Markin recall Parliament with less than two weeks to the elections.

The NPP had requested that the Speaker recalled Parliament to sit on November 28 and November 29, 2024. But the NDC urged the Speaker to decline their request stressing that it was without any strong basis and did not meet the threshold required for a recall.

Responding to the issue in a memo, the Speaker said, with barely two weeks to the December 7 elections, it would not be helpful to recall Parliament.

In a memo addressed to the Leader of Government Business, the Speaker said, the time requested for the recall was very close to the elections and therefore, would interrupt the campaigns of the various candidates.

“This season is for the government, parties, and both presidential and parliamentary candidates to present their manifestos to the people and to account and justify how the mandate given them by voters for the four-year term of office has been applied to the benefit of the people, and to account and justify how the mandate given them by the voters for the four-year term of office has been applied to the benefit of the people” the Speaker stated.

He said, while the Majority Leader had outlined 22 items he said were urgent and required Parliament’s attention, it was impracticable for Parliament to address all the 22 issues within the two-day period considering the nature of the practice and deliberations of the House.

“The House will resume sitting after the elections to complete all essential matters before a seamless transition to the 9th Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana,” Bagbin stated.

Source: Nsem360.com