Dr. Rasheed Draman, the Executive Director for the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), has cautioned the Minority in Parliament, stating that their continued absence from parliamentary business violates certain provisions outlined in Parliament’s standing orders.
According to Dr. Draman, the act of abstaining from parliamentary proceedings for an extended period of time constitutes a clear violation of the legislature’s standing orders.
Parliament’s standing orders are a set of rules and regulations that govern the conduct of parliamentary business, ensuring its smooth functioning. By disregarding their parliamentary duties and staying away from sessions, the Minority risks contravening these established provisions.
Dr. Draman’s remarks serve as a reminder to the Minority of their responsibility to actively participate in parliamentary affairs, fulfilling their role as elected representatives. The absence of a significant number of members can disrupt the legislative process and hinder the efficient functioning of Parliament.
It remains crucial for all parliamentarians, regardless of their political affiliations, to adhere to the standing orders and prioritize their parliamentary responsibilities in order to effectively represent their constituents and contribute to the democratic decision-making process.
“If this continues, they might be in violation of some provision of the standing orders because if you absent yourself continuously for a number of days assuming these trials are going to continue, then I think they must be in violation of their own standing orders,” he said in an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday.
Dr Draman’s comments come after the Minority Caucus abandoned sitting to accompany and solidarise with the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson on their respective criminal trials.
The Minority Leader earlier served notice that all NDC MPs will not be in the House or participate in its business on any day the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson is to appear in court.
This explains the boycott of Parliament on Thursday.
But in response to the NDC MPs’ strategy to soldarise with their colleagues, Dr Draman expressed surprise that the Minority MPs carried out their decision.
According to him, he least expected the Minority to go on that tangent considering how critical their oversight role of the incumbent government in the legislature is.
He said he expected the MPs to leave the issues of solidarity to the party.
“To leave the business of the House and to leave the job that Ghanaians are paying you to do is something else,”he noted.
Dr Draman said if this situation persists, it is going to cripple the business of the House because quorum is going to be affected.
He added that he expected the leadership of the Minority to engage the entire leadership of parliament to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Parliament was forced to adjourn Thursday’s sitting without dealing with some items on the order paper as a result of the NDC MPs’ absence.