The minority leader wants the number of deputies to be limited

Politics of Thursday, November 5, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-11-05

Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu reiterated on Tuesday the need to put a cap on the number of members of Parliament (MP).

He said experts and opinion leaders also agreed that “we need to put a cap on the size of the legislature” and “that we cannot continue to expand the House membership in perpetuity.”

The Tamale Sur lawmaker raised the matter Tuesday at the House of Parliament in Accra, during the opening of the new office facility, dubbed the Job 600 Annex, to create space for MPs without offices.

Until now, some MPs had to pose with others or operate from locations outside the House at their risk and discomfort.

Sections 1, 3 and 7 of article 47 of the 1992 constitution, provided that: (1) Ghana shall be divided into as many constituencies for the purposes of electing members of Parliament as prescribed by the Electoral Commission, and each constituency shall be represented by a member of Parliament.

(3) The boundaries of each constituency * shall * be such that the number of inhabitants of the constituency is, as far as possible, equal to the population quota. (7) For the purposes of this article, “population quota” means the number obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants of Ghana by the number of electoral districts Ghana is divided into according to this article.

In response to population growth and to meet the constitutional requirement, the Electoral Commission (EC) increased the number of electoral districts and parliamentary seats from 200 in the elections of 1992, 1996, 2000 to 230 in the elections of 2004 and to 275 in those of 2012 and 2016. elections.

In 2017, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia revealed that the government of Ghana was considering the construction of a new chamber for the legislative arm of the government and warned that the work of Parliament should not be interrupted considering the critical role it plays in the governance of this country.

However, when Parliament, in July 2019, announced its plan to build a new chamber at an estimated cost of $ 200 million, public outcry against the project forced the House to halt planned construction.

The Parliamentary Services Board, by reviewing the representations of the public, consequently eliminated the development of the new House bloc from its agenda.

However, the development of the parliamentary enclave and a new House block and offices will nonetheless remain an essential and integral part of the future plans of the Legislature, in an attempt to provide a strong, accountable, responsive and transparent parliament. that serves the purpose of Parliament.

The minority leader said the continued expansion has implications for the public purse and the leaders of political parties, in particular his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the current ruling New Patriotic Party (PNP).

He urged the two sides to reach a consensus on the ideal size of the Legislature, for a country like Ghana, with a prayer to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to lead and influence such debate.

The minority leader reviewed the discussion to create a parliamentary enclave for the nation, arguing that the need for Parliament to maintain effective occupation and control of the enclave was long overdue.

Ghana’s parliament, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) learned, relies on the State Protocol Department, but the minority leader argued that, “it is not good practice that parliamentary arguments or part of them, are in the hands and control of other Agencies or Bodies “.

Mr. Iddrisu said a lot, since he was aware that the president had given his blessings for the acquisition of the Parliamentary Enclave, the process was moving slowly.

“We expected the process to be completed within its mandate,” said the Minority Leader, emphasizing the improvement of the security of parliamentarians as public officials in parallel state organizations, before the days of the next general elections.

Iddrsu suggested that some buildings in the Chamber be named after some pioneers of Ghana’s parliamentary journey under the Fourth Republic.

Iddrisu named the late Judge Daniel Francis Kweipe Annan and the late Peter Ala Adjetey, both former presidents, as personalities whose memories cannot be separated from the Parliament of Ghana.