National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has bemoaned the decision of Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to refer three MPs to the Privileges Committee of Parliament after a petition by a private individual.
He indicated that it is not the job of the speaker to be checking the attendance of MPs in the house and that the only person who can draw the speaker’s attention to the absenteeism of MPs is the Clerk of Parliament and not private individuals, asaaseradio.com reports.
The NPP Chairman added that it is only the members of parliament who can decide the action to take against MPs (Member of Parliament) who are absent themselves.
“… the Speaker is not a headmaster who is marking the register. If it comes to his notice through his clerk… I find it a little bit strange that somebody from outside; so, to speak, will come and petition.
“Absenteeism is a headache in Parliament, to deal with it is not to one day stand up and say I’m picking on board; let the parliamentarians themselves agree that this is what we want to do now, ‘from now onwards, Mr Speaker, if anybody is 15 days out of Parliament without permission from me as a speaker, I’ll refer them in accordance with the rules to the privileges committee.
“But in this case that I’m being told, that somebody else from outside is drawing the attention of the Speaker. But even then, if that is brought, it must be at the plenary. It should be discussed at the plenary before you refer the matter to privileges. I think he’s [Speaker] surrendering his discretion to outsiders,” Blay is quoted to have said on Asaase Radio’s ‘The Big Bulletin’ show.
Also, the NPP Chairman said that the issue of MP absenteeism is not peculiar to Ghana and is characteristic of many parliaments in the world.
He added that it is the responsibility of the leadership of the caucuses in Parliament of ensuring that MPs are doing their best to be present in the house to represent the interest of their constituents.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, referred three New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs – Dome Kwabenya MP Sarah Adwoa Safo, Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong and Ayawaso Central MP Henry Quartey – to the Privileges Committee of the House after he was petitioned by former MP, Ras Mubarak to remove the MPs for absenting themselves for more than 15 consecutive sittings.
Source: ghanaweb
