Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho was compelled to temporarily suspend Thursday’s sitting after a heated debate among Members of Parliament over Seth Terkper’s budget statement presentation.
[contextly_sidebar id=”tSJYt4bn7pHLmq51nh1jyrClRSxTv92x”]Finance Minister, Seth Tekper was scheduled to make a statement over the effects of the continuous fall in crude oil prices on the 2015 budget.
However Citi News’ Parliamentary correspondent, Richard Dela Sky reported that “Members of the Minority side vowed not to allow the Minister to read the statement because they were told previously that the Minister was coming to the house with a reviewed budget.”
Richard Sky said the Minority declared the stance after “Honourable Babgin had notified the House that the Minister was in the chamber to read the statement”
According to him, the situation had led to the chaos, “informing an application from the Majority Leader that the Speaker should suspend sitting for the next 30 minutes so leadership on both sides of the aisle can speak to them so that they can calm down for the resumption of proceedings in the chamber.”
He noted that though both majority and minority members of Parliament were earlier seated, “they were now standing, interacting, and waiting for the 30 minutes to elapse.”
Precedence
The Speaker revealed that he held a meeting with his procedural clerks to find out whether there was precedence to follow after he was informed about the Finance Minister’s intentions.
“I was very clear in my mind that as the Speaker I have precedence to guide me and to follow,” he stated.
The Speaker maintained that the House was not doing anything new by allowing the Minister to present the statement, adding that the “proper motions will be filed if there is anything in the statement that needs the approval of the House.”
Contradictions
The Minority earlier stated that the Finance Minister will review an entirely new budget which MPs will be required to pass.
The Minority further alleged that government is reviewing the budget with the view of ensuring that it is not in “variance with their negotiations with the IMF.”
However the Majority Speaker in Parliament, Alban Bagbin described such claims as ‘misleading’.
He explained that the Minority were “misled by the last business committee report which programmed the Minister to come a do a budget review”.
“On that basis the minority picked up the issue but that is not what the Minister is coming to do,”he added.
He clarified that the Minister will just make a “statement on the floor of Parliament,about the implications on the 2015 budget of the fall of oil prices” as well as “brief Ghanaians on the final performance of the 2015 budget.”
It however appears the Minority still believe Seth Terkper will review the budget, hence their opposition.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah