After\u00a0commending the Minority in Parliament for democratically responding to the issues addressed in the President\u2019s state of the nation\u2019s address, government\u00a0has however questioned why they failed to give \u201cconstructive alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> on Tuesday said the Minority\u2019s presentation of their true state of the nation depicts the \u201cbeauty of democracy\u201d but \u201cwhat I found very intriguing and quite interesting was the absence constructive alternative from the political opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”Cx3aDlDm0LT4XTGRAwGPPCJAhWodm0uw”]His reaction comes on the back of a press briefing organized by the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) on Monday to present their true state of the nation<\/strong><\/span><\/a> days after President John Mahama had presented to Parliemant<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n He queried the Minority\u2019s presentation on how much the government had borrowed without placing it in context.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was all about you have borrowed, there is threat of debt distress\u2026if you say that public debt is rising\u2026yes that is true but that must be explained within the context that you are having an unprecedented level of interventions in terms of infrastructural development to which government borrowed,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n Mr. Iddrisu on behalf of government stated emphatically that government borrowed all those sums of money to build the requisite infrastructure, therefore, it is important for Ghanaians to appreciate that \u201cgovernment borrowed to build requisite infrastructure to support the delivery of public and social services to better the quality of life of Ghanaians.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGovernment is borrowing\u2026to pay the 2007 Eurobond which is due in 2017 so you don\u2019t blame government when you yourself have contributed to what today you want to criticize \u2013 that is my argument. They borrowed\u2026so it should not be as if we are paying public debt only occasioned by the NDC administration,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The Labour Minister observed that the deliberate failure of the Minority to state the specific reasons for government borrowing to Ghanaians also indicts them for not representing the true state of the nation.<\/p>\n On the supposed taxes to be introduced by the government following the IMF bailout, Iddrisu said the \u201cMinority got is wrong; it\u2019s palpably misleading for them to say that through the IMF intervention, new taxes will be introduced.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet it be stated that I\u2019m not aware of any new taxes that government is introducing or will be introduced\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n He questioned why the NPP is heavily criticizing the government for seeking a bailout from the IMF since according to him, the NPP had sought help from the IMF too.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have been there before and you must share the record \u2013 true state of the nation. If it was wrong going to the IMF, they\u2019ve been to the IMF.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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