The Minority in Parliament has given the indication that it would refile a motion to challenge a ruling of the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, when the Speaker of the House, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, returns from his medical leave.
According to the opposition lawmakers, the refusal of the motion filed by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, was a missed opportunity for the Bekwai MP to correct an obvious error in his ruling.
“The refusal of the motion came as a shock to us because we had believed that he was going to exercise his discretion and take the opportunity to correct what we believed was a wrong decision.
“We believe that he is abusing his office and is not mindful of Article 296 which entreats all public officers who exercise discretion to be fair and candid and not capricious.
“In our view, he was political bias in his refusal of the motion than doing his job as the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
“Now that we have no option, we will wait for Mr Speaker and exploit that avenue. Obviously, when Mr Speaker comes, we will take that matter up to possibly submit another motion because we believe the First Deputy Speaker was very bias,” the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka told journalists in Parliament, Accra, yesterday.
Mr Iddrisu, MP, Tamale South, on December 1, moved a motion to overturn the approval of the budget by the House constituted by the Majority caucus alone.
The budget was earlier rejected by the House presided over by the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, after the Majority caucus staged a walk-out in the middle of proceedings on November 26.
The Tamale South lawmaker’s motion, seconded and debated, was dismissed by the First Deputy Speaker; a ruling the Minority Leader said was in contrast to the rules of the House.
In forming the quorum to overturn the November 26 rejection, Mr Osei-Owusu counted himself, a decision which has since divided opinion because the Speaker, per the Standing Orders does not have a vote.
The House descended into chaos at sitting on December 1 when the First Deputy Speaker, after allowing debate on the matter ruled that he was not the Speaker and qualified to be counted to form the necessary quorum to take the decision.
In a substantive motion under Standing Order 93(5) on December 7, the Minority Leader said the ruling “contravenes the rules, conventions and practices of the House” and was “actuated by bias” hence his decision to challenge same.
But Mr Osei-Owusu in a letter signed by the Clerk to Parliament, Cyril Nsiah, and addressed to the Minority Leader said he could not admit the motion.
“Please refer to your communication dated December 7, 2021 on the motion in relation to a ruling by the Honourable First Deputy Speaker, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.
“The Honourable First Deputy Speaker, pursuant to Order 13(2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, has directed that I inform you that the motion is not admitted,” the letter read.
However, the Asawase MP in his engagement with the media said per the Standing Orders of the House, once a motion is moved and seconded, all the First Deputy Speaker needed to do was to put a question.
If not reversed, the Minority Chief Whip said the conduct of the First Deputy Speaker could be a bad precedent for the House where a motion is debated and a Speaker decides to dismiss same.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
