News:
July 13, 2010
A proposal by the Majority Leader, Mr. Cletus Avoka, for the House to rise on August 3, 2010, instead of the scheduled July 23 was met with stiff opposition by the Minority who argued that the proposal would not augur well for the forthcoming congress to elect the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr. Avoka had argued that the extension was to enable the House to complete its scheduled agenda which included the passage of the Petroleum (Amendment) Bill and the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill. The two bills are expected to be laid before the House next week for consideration.
However, the Minority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, stated that the extension, should it be granted, would not be sufficient for the passage of the two bills and suggested that the draft bills could be placed before the House for them to be referred to their respective committees for consideration.
The ensuing debate, which lasted for more than one hour, saw a number of MPs, particularly from the Minority kicking against the proposal. Contribution to the debate, the NPP MP for Manhyia, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said it was unfortunate that pertinent government issues were always delayed until Parliament was about to rise before they were tabled for discussion.
He said those who managed government business should be able to advise members of the executive to endeavour to schedule their businesses to fit into parliamentary business. For his part, the NPP MP for Kwadaso, Dr. Owusu Afriyie, said it would not be proper for the House to alter its calendar, arguing that it was a calculated attempt to sabotage the NPP congress.
When he caught the eye of the Speaker, the NPP MP for Ahafo-Ano South, Mr. Kwaku Balado-Manu, called on the executive to ensure that bills, papers, among other important national issues, were introduced in the House early enough to give the MPs ample time to discuss them before they were approved. He reminded the House that issues such as the provision of accommodation for former president J.J. Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufour should be brought before the House for debate.
The NDC MP for Ashiaman, Mr. Alfred Agbeshi, appealed to his colleagues to accept the proposal of the Majority Leader since there were more pressing issues to be discussed before the ongoing meeting came to an end.
After the debate, the Speaker told the House that she had decided not to rule on the matter until next week.