Parliament is not under any influence - Speaker

Accra, Jan 20, GNA - Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker of Parliament, on Monday dismissed as "exaggerations and oversimplification" comments and criticisms at a symposium that Members of Parliament were too partisan and indulge in adversarial politics. He also said it was also not fair to say that Parliament was to a large extent influenced by the Executive arm of government.

"If indeed the legislature is influenced or dominated by the executive arm, what about the judiciary, should we say they are also dominated or not. If that is not so, then parliament is in no way under any influence. Why do we say Parliament is subordinate when the constitution does not say so, the legislature is independent as well as the other arms of government and what they do is to act as a check on each other," he explained.

Mr. Adjetey pointed out that adversarial politics on the floor of Parliament created the room for constructive debates on issues and polices, adding, "This can not be ruled out as they help both parties in the house to really subject issues to much scrutiny and eventually come to a compromise for the beauty of democracy". The Speaker, however, agreed to some comments and suggestions such as the need to improve the capacity of MPs, providing adequate resources and logistics and strengthening the committee structures of the House to deepen parliamentary democracy.

Professor Atsu Ayee, Dean of the Faculty of Social Studies at the University of Ghana, speaking on "Election 2004 - Implications for Parliamentary Democracy," said the comments were public perceptions, which undermined parliamentary democracy. He said even though parliament occupied a key position in government machinery, it was a subordinate body in any modern political system, adding that, Parliamentary Democracy was determined by a variety of "state-specific" factors.

The factors included, the extent of Parliament's constitutional authority, its degree of independence from the Executive, the nature of party system and the level of Parliament's organizational coherence particularly the strength of its committee system. Prof Ayee noted that such perceptions had been formed because Parliament was party dominated and MPs served their constituents not by thinking for themselves or acting as channels to convey their views but by remaining loyal to parties and their policies. Another factor was the constitutional provision that majority of Ministers should be MPs, which he said undermined the oversight role of Parliament. Prof. Ayee said the 2004 elections should promote democratic consolidation, adding that, they should be free and fair satisfying certain criteria including a level playing field for all parties, a credible electoral register and an independent electoral body.

Mr. Larry Bimi, Chairman of the National Commissioning for Civic Education, mentioned the perception by some observers that the parliamentary concept was a foreign one and identified the partisan nature of debates as one of the perceived threats to parliamentary democracy. He said that free, fair and transparent elections this year would increase the confidence of the people and the place Ghana on a high position in the sub-region as far as parliamentary democracy was concerned.

"This would certainly have some rippling effects on the economic and social well being and prosperity of individuals and the country as a whole. We stand at the threshold of continuing as a beacon of hope for parliamentary democracy in the sub-region, we must ensure that we spread out the rays of parliamentary democracy and good governance to the sub-region and the rest of Africa," Mr. Bimi said. He said Mr. Bimi said "any false step" in the 2004 elections could plunge Ghana and the rest of the sub-region into a dark abyss, from which "our children and their children would find it difficult to climb out".

The symposium was held as part the Parliamentary Week celebration under the theme, "Parliamentary Democracy - Key to sustainable Democracy".