Minority suspends boycott

... resumes Parliamentary business
Accra, March 2, GNA - The National Democratic Congress members of parliament on Thursday surfaced in the chambers of parliament to engage in parliamentary business after weeks of absence.

"The minority after consultations with its coalition partners and upon appeals received from mediating religious and civil society groups, and a broad segment of the public, has decided to suspend its boycott of parliament and resume work on Thursday 2nd March 2006," Mr Alban Bagbin said at a press conference at Parliament house.

The NDC members on February nine, boycotted parliament in protest over the passage of the Representation of the People (Amendment) bill (ROPAB) and the referral to the Privileges Committee of a letter purported to have been written by the counsel for Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader, restraining the Speaker, Mr Ebenezer Sakyi Hughes from proceeding with the passage of the bill.

"The Minority also wishes to express appreciation for the wise counsel of the various religious bodies and civil society groups that attempted to play a mediating role in the ROPAB disagreement," Mr Bagbin told the press conference.

"The Minority regrets that the President and the majority instead of heeding the wise counsel of these bodies rather chose to slap them in the face by going ahead with the partisan passage of the bill and a hasty granting of Presidential assent barely 24 hours after its passage."

The Minority Leader said despite these obvious "snub" to these organisations by government, the minority believes that the opportunity still exits for a mediation that could lead to a review of the offending legislation and a forum for forging consensus."

He said the minority still maintains its stance that any decision to radically change the electoral landscape must be done by a consensus of all political stakeholders.

Mr Bagbin touched on the need for free expression through demonstrations and said the "unprovoked attack" by the police on the February 21 demonstrators led to severe injuries being visited on some 30 people.

He called on government to halt the persecution of demonstrators to build a conducive atmosphere for dialogue and consensus building.

Mr Bagbin said the minority was following development at the privileges committee in the "matter of the referral for contempt of Mr Tony Lithur, counsel for Deputy Minority Leader Doe Adjaho."

"The very act of referral and the hostile posture of the committee chairman are all acts calculated to intimidate and cow the minority into docility," he added.

The minority leader said they would never submit to intimidation, adding that they would use all legitimate "instrument available to us to prevent the NPP from dragging our dear country Ghana down the slippery slopes of instability and confrontation."