Reasons for majority side walkout ‘careless’, ‘irresponsible’, Sylvester Mensah
Majority, Minority MPs to battle it out in parliament on November 30, 2021
Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Sylvester Mensah, has described the attempts by majority members of Parliament (MPs) to label the public gallery as an extension of the floor of parliament as a “comic relief”.
The majority MPs on Friday, November 26, 2021, insisted that the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, leaves the public gallery of parliament after the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, directed all non-MPs, including the finance minister, who were on the floor of parliament at the time to vacate the chamber for a vote of “division” process to begin.
But taking to social media, Sylvester Mensah, indicated that such argument put forth the majority side does not hold.
“No amount of misrepresentations or propaganda by the NPP parliamentary group on why they walked out of the chamber, last night, would wash! Any attempt to make the Public Gallery an extension of the Floor of Parliament can only serve comic relief purposes!” he said in a tweet.
“The reasons assigned for boycotting proceedings is as careless as it is irresponsible! We’re experiencing an abdication of moral leadership, Inadequate consultation toward annual budget presentations, and suboptimal policy judgement,” he further stated.
Sylvester Mensah also commended the minority MPs' decision to follow through with their resolve to reject the budget based on some tax components.
“Ghana, as a result, is at the crossroads, but Ghanaians are elated that the NDC group in Parliament has stepped up the plate on this occasion of government’s reckless additional tax proposals. Kudos to our NDC MPs!
“Life has become unbearable for the majority of Ghanaians due to insufficient thinking process for policy implementation,” he indicated.
Meanwhile, the majority says it does not recognize the Speaker’s ruling rejecting the budget stating it of “nullity” and of no effect on Parliament.
Parliament is expected to sit on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, in what promises to be a showdown between the majority and minority caucuses due to the contrary views on whether or not the budget has been rejected.
Former NHIS Boss, Sylvester Mensah