Process for electing parliamentary candidates needs to be refined – Osei Bonsu

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and MP for Suame Constituency, Ashanti Region Osei Kyei Mensa Bonsu has said the process of electing parliamentary candidates in the various constituencies should move from the highest bidder to a more refined process.

According to him, a lot of Members of Parliament do not usually contribute to making laws in parliament due to the lack of interest as some of them were elected because of their developmental promises.

He also noted how most parliamentarians, based on the highest bidder elections, come into parliament without the interest in the core functions of parliament.

“… The process of electing parliamentary candidates needs to be refined, because if you don’t refine it and limit it to whoever is the highest bidder, each constituency produces Members of Parliament who would not be interested in the core functions of parliament.”

“It’s not only the making of legislation, when it comes to scrutiny of the budget or oversight of the budget, how many people are concerned with that. Anytime we hear complaints about Members of Parliament, it’s not about their work in Parliament, 90 out of 100 cases complain about development.” He said

He added that most complaints about parliament are mostly not about the MP’s contribution in parliament but rather their inability to do some developmental projects in their constituency.

Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah indicated that the MP is only “the facilitator and not the mover and shaker of the party for development”

He further said it is at the discretion of the president to determine which development initiative he wants to prioritize; in which case the MP can only lobby around that.