Fomena MP settled the majority-minority question – Hadzide

A former deputy minister has accused opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs of being unnecessarily difficult by claiming that Parliament did not have a majority caucus.

Pius Enam Hadzide submitted that the official declaration of Andrew Amoako Asiamah, Fomena MP and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, to work with the ruling New Patriotic Party settled the question of Majority and Minority caucuses.

“To the extent that the independent candidate officially declared that he will work with the NPP in parliament, the question of majority and minority caucus has been answered,” Hadzide said on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo program.

He was making submissions relative to the widely reported dawn arrival of some NPP MPs to parliament in order to occupy the majority seats in the house.

He added that the actions of NDC MPs in seeking to force themselves into the majority spot appeared to be a deliberate ploy to make governance difficult for the government. He said the move will eventually affect the general populace.

The NPP MPs decision is seen as preemptive, given that NDC MPs had 'forcibly' occupied the majority side during the first sitting of the eighth parliament on January 7. Both parties have 137 seats in the house with the last seat occupied by the Fomena MP.

The NDC leader in parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, in a press conference on Thursday insisted that the Fomena MP remained an independent lawmaker despite aligning with the NPP in the house.

“He is not seeking to join the political party, therefore, nobody should do easy mathematics of 137 plus one. Because all the Fomena MP said was ‘I will cooperate and collaborate’ and that is different from joining,” Haruna cautioned.

“A week ago, the Clerk of Parliament read a letter from the Electoral Commission. The said correspondent indicated that the NDC had 137 seats and the NPP also 137 seats and one independent MP. Therefore, from the official correspondent of the EC, neither the NDC nor NPP has a majority in Parliament.

“So ladies and gentlemen of the media, nobody should be engaged in any fruitless effort to add on what he or she does not have. This is because, by official records, the Parliament of Ghana is of one of equal strength and equal numbers,” he stressed.