We fought to prevent some individuals from undermining the constitution
Our brawl is to build confidence with the people of Ghana
A Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central Constituency, Mahama Ayariga, has said that with the current pace at which the country's democracy is deepening, it will be difficult for military adventurers to take over.
According to him, the recent brawl in parliament will rather prevent a military takeover as it's one of the ways to build confidence in democracy through checks and balance.
He explained that the two instances of a brawl in parliament were when some individuals wanted to rig and undermine the constitution; therefore, the minority had to ensure the right things were done.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb, he said, "I am confident that Ghana is on a sustained path to deepening our democracy, and I am very confident that if we continue at the pace we have assumed recently, we will see no excuse for a military adventurer.
"For example, say we see people fighting in parliament and exchanging blows and moving and throwing chairs at each other, if you do this, the military will come in and take all of us out, I say no!
"That is what is going to prevent the military from coming because soldiers are not senseless human beings. They want checks and balances to work in the democracy; they want a parliament that is not a rubber stamp.
"A parliament that when the population say we don't like this, they can stand their grounds and tell the executive that we don't like this, the people don't like this, you can't impose it on them. If the people say we like this, then parliament should be able to stand its ground and demand and get the executive to do what people like."
He added that people would have confidence in democracy and disallow military adventurers when institutions like the judiciary and media effectively play their roles.
"Now, if we stand our grounds in parliament and we fight to make sure the right things are done, and the people have confidence in the institutions of democracy, they won't support any military adventurer taking a gun.
"If the judiciary doesn't turn itself to a rubber stamp and when citizens see that either parliament or the executive or any institution is clearly violating the constitution that we've all agreed on and come before the judiciary and stand their grounds and say no you can't do this, the constitution is clear about this, the citizen is right, the government you are wrong, then people will have confidence in the judiciary.
"When people have confidence in the journalist, that the media will expose wrongdoing and will not be in the pay pockets of executive and politicians and will fight to unearth wrongdoing and demand that the right things are done, and they have confidence in the media, nobody will support military adventurists, that is how to prevent coups."
He added that the fights would build confidence in democratic institutions.
When asked if he thinks what the minority is doing will prevent such things from happening (Military takeover), Ayariga responded: "Yes! It will build confidence in democratic institutions. I mean, why do we fight in the chamber? And all the two occasions we have fought in the chamber, it is because somebody was trying to rig, somebody was trying to undermine the rules of the house.
"We had two options; to wait and allow the person or persons to undermine the rules so that later we attempt to correct it or to prevent it from being undermined so that we don't risk that or you will do and later come and try and correct it. Those were the two instances," he told GhanaWeb.
Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central constituency, Mahama Ayariga