The National Peace Council (NPC) has called for dialogue and consensus building among Members of Parliament (MPs) in resolving the impasse regarding the approval of the 2022 Budget policy of government.
According to the Council, the current “disturbing happenings in Parliament” has the potential to impact negatively on the country’s peace and stability.
It has therefore appealed for calm and a continuation of the path of dialogue in resolving the current impasse and those that might occur in the future.
This was contained in a statement signed and issued by Rev. Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the NPC in Accra last Saturday.
The statement followed separate meetings with both the Majority and Minority Leaders in Parliament last week on the impasse in Parliament.
In both meetings, the Council, in the statement, expressed concern about the disturbing happenings in Parliament.
It said the Council was made aware of concessions and the establishment of a 20-member committee tasked to dialogue and bring an end to the impasse.
“Both the Majority and the Minority Leaders, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Mr Haruna Iddrisu, in their responses informed the Council that both sides had made concessions and a committee of 20 members drawn from both sides had been set up to dialogue towards finding a solution to the impasse as soon as practicable,” the statement added.
Further to that, the Council also urged the media and all those who make statements on the matter to exercise maximum restraint in their pronouncements to protect the peace, stability and the integrity of the country.
Parliament, within the past weeks, had been the centre of media reports following the reading of government’s 2022 budget statement and economic policy by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
On Tuesday, there was some major drama after the Majority caucus overturned a previous decision by Minority members to reject the 2022 budget.
The Minority had boycotted the sitting which was moderated by the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu.
Earlier, on November 26, a one-sided Minority voted to reject the budget after the Majority side, in a protest, staged a walkout moment before the Speaker put the question before the House.
BY TIMES REPORTER