Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader in Parliament, has criticised the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, accusing him of treating the House as his personal property.
According to him, the Speaker decides on his own when to reconvene Parliament without consideration for national matters.
In an interview on JoyNews, on November 28, 2024, Afenyo-Markin expressed frustration over Bagbin’s decision to decline a request to recall Parliament to address pressing government business.
“Look at the shutdown they are doing in Parliament. Today, the Speaker has taken Parliament as his personal property. As and when it pleases him, he opens Parliament. Even when there is an issue that he could sit with us on, he says no.
“Look at the response of the NDC. They wrote a counter-petition saying that Mr Speaker should not open Parliament. The flagbearer of the NDC also said the same thing. So, what they are doing is holding the government hostage.
“Are we even sure that he would open Parliament? That’s the question. Are we even sure? But the answer lies in we [NPP] winning massively. And once we win massively and we come, he would have no choice,” myjoyonline.com quoted him to have said.
The Majority Leader revealed that he had submitted a memo urging the Speaker to reconvene the House before the end of November. However, Bagbin’s refusal has, in Afenyo-Markin’s view, obstructed critical legislative processes and disrupted the smooth functioning of government operations.
“I do not want to rely on his words. You remember we recalled Parliament, the government did all that they had to do, we came in and he adjourned Parliament sine die. So, I don’t want to talk about whether he would come and reopen Parliament or not. I leave it to his own judgment.
“Look at the recent case, they themselves created this impasse. We [NPP], as law-abiding citizens, took the matter to court. The court ruled in our favour.
“They contested the case and lost. I was expecting Mr. Speaker to immediately open Parliament as a Democrat, to say that government business must go on. I waited upon him; he did not. When I finally wrote to him to open Parliament for us to do government business, look at his response. He’s not ready,” he said.
The Speaker’s refusal was conveyed in a memo dated November 26, where he stated that the House would only reconvene after the December 7 general elections.
