General News of Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Source: radioxyzonline

Majority's rejection of committee's report "very shameful" - Prempeh

The chairman of the subsidiary legislative committee, Osei Kwame Prempeh has however described the decision of the majority to see the enforcement of CI 78 as "shameful".

On Monday the majority in Parliament with 81 over 51 votes from the minority voted against the report of the committee on subsidiary legislation calling for annulment of the CI78.

The committee indicated that CI 78 contained errors where 26 electoral areas created under LI 1983 had been omitted and 22 not existing electoral areas introduced.

But the majority in Parliament argued that the report contained manifest inaccuracies and misrepresentations.

MPs were recalled back from recess for an emergency sitting to afford the maturity of CI 78 within 21 parliamentary sitting days ending today.

With the report now rejected, Ghanaians can now vote for 275 members of Parliament come December 7 as CI 78 which gives legal backing to the creation of 45 new constituencies will today be passed into law.

Speaking to XYZ News, Kwame Osei Prempeh stated that he is disappointed by the behavior of the majority adding that he hopes the EC will consider the recommendation of the committee to ensure peace in the country.

“Today is a sad day because the majority in Parliament posed a blind eye to the law and the constitution and engaging in populist and pedestrian arguments and pushing this through with the help of the Speaker is very bad.

“The minority had our say but we can’t have our way but what the majority did is very untenable and very shameful for this country” Mr. Osei Kwame Prempeh said.