In a surprising turn of events, the decision by Minority members to boycott parliamentary sittings whenever the Assin North MP, Gyakye Quayson, appears in court for his criminal trial has faced setbacks, leading to a reconsideration of their position.
On Wednesday, as Gyakye Quayson attended court proceedings, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs reported to parliament, deviating from their previous stance.
In an effort to intensify their protest against the prosecution of their colleague, the NDC MPs have devised a new strategy that could potentially disrupt business in the House. However, the specific details of this alternative approach have yet to be disclosed.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, confirmed that a different strategy has been agreed upon but refrained from providing further information, leaving the public and other parliamentary members curious about the course of action to be pursued by the Minority caucus.
“We will not announce our strategy going forward, but what we can say is that all options are on the table, and they should not expect cooperation from us.
“I won’t go into the details, but let them be assured that amidst persecution, cooperation will suffer. Nothing more, nothing less and that is the position of the NDC Minority. We are not going to compromise on that,” he insisted.
He noted that, as long as Gyakye Quayson’s prosecution continues, the Minority will never cooperate with the Majority on anything in the House.
According to him, the NPP MPs have the numbers to form a quorum in the House even without the presence of the NDC MPs, therefore, the “NPP should not expect the NDC to do government business for them while they sit in the comfort of their homes, draw on salaries and then go to constituencies, use government vehicles and fuel to campaign.”
“We urge them [Majority] in as much as they are persecuting our members, they should redraw from the field and come and do business here [Parliament]. Since they have escalated the persecution of James Gyakye Quayson, they should not expect cooperation from us,” he said.
He added “Let Ghanaians be aware that the NPP doesn’t have the moral right to talk about patriotism because if you are patriotic, you will not abandon Parliament and use state resources to be campaigning as the Vice President is doing. So, let the public be aware that, it is not the NDC Members of Parliament who do not want to do government business, but it is the NPP members.”