Parliament finalizes debate on budget today
Minority MPs say they are serious about government business
The Minority in Parliament has suggested to their colleagues on the Majority side to humbly tell them if they are no longer unable to run the government business of the country.
Addressing the media after the Members of Parliament on the Majority side had not shown up in the Chamber over 2 hours after the advertised time for the start of business for the day, the Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Mohammed, called the absence of the Majority an act of non-seriousness.
“It’s unfortunate I’ve heard members of the Majority saying that we in the Minority are trying to play propaganda with the government’s financial policy and economic statement. That is very bad. If you go to the Chamber right now, all the 137 parliamentary MPs of the NDC are there. We had our caucus meeting at 8 O’clock this morning. By 9:30, our caucus meeting was over.
“We are a very serious and responsible opposition and we did that simply because the House was adjourned yesterday till 10am this morning. So, everybody has been whipped to come to the Chamber, come to the caucus, meeting and then proceed to the Chamber, and that is why you can see with your naked eyes that one side of the House is occupied; the other half is still vacant,” he said.
He also explained that the irony is that the MPs on the Majority side, who want the help of the Minority, have rather been absent from the House.
He suggested to them that if they are not ready to run the business of government, they should let Ghanaians know.
“We are in Minority and it is our responsibility to help our brothers in government to govern. You who is to bring your motion, you who moves your motion, you’ve vacated the House. Can Ghanaians take you serious? If you’re not ready to govern, let us know, but you can say that the Minority are doing propaganda with the budget,” he said.
The week-long debates of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy is expected to be finalized today with either a rejection or acceptance vote.
So far, the MPs on the Majority side are yet to show up in the Chamber.
Earlier, it had been rumoured that the Minority had planned that it would reject the budget should the Members of Parliament for Assin Central and Dome-Kwabenya, Kennedy Agyapong, and Sarah Adwoa Safo, respectively, not make it to the House for the final deliberations.
Ahmed Mohammed is the Deputy Minority Chief Whip