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General News of Friday, 22 May 2020

Source: 3news.com

Ghana’s Parliament heading for danger – Mahama Ayariga signals

The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central Constituency in the Upper East Region has warned that Ghana’s Parliament is heading for danger if members continue to toe party lines.

Mahama Ayariga said the House is supposed to debate and reason on issues and not to take entrench positions because of political affiliation.

The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) members filed a motion to reject the Constitutional Instrument (CI) filed by the Electoral Commission (EC) to embark on voters’ registration exercise ahead of the 2020 December elections.

The Bawku Central MP filed the motion on behalf of the Minority to protest what they say are a new set of rules the EC has introduced into the CI.

The new C.I. if passed by Parliament will remove the voter’s ID card as a registration document for a new voter ID card but allow for the use of the Ghana Card and passport.

The C.I. needs 21 continuous sitting days to mature and May 22 is day 10.

The notice of motion filed by Mr. Ayariga is asking the house to reject the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 C.I. 126, even before the Subsidiary Legislation Committee submits a report on the C.I. to the floor.

Throwing more light on the motion on Onua TV’s Maakye on Friday co-hosted by Bright Kwasi Asempa and Adwoa Konadu-Yiadom, the Bawku Central MP was optimistic that his colleague MPs from the Majority side of the House would see reasoning in his argument and support him.

“If they don’t reason with the substance of our arguments, then it means we are in trouble. If Parliament is about NDC and NPP, then we are in trouble”, he explained. Mr. Ayariga said “if the argument makes sense, then we have to take it and let posterity be the judge of all”.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Adentan Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, who is also the Communications Director of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has pointed out that there would be constitutional crisis after December 7, 2020 if elections are not held in Ghana.