The Majority leader in Parliament Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has insisted that the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin was not duly elected as stipulated by the constitution of Ghana but was selected as Speaker of Parliament based on a consensus by some leaders in Parliament leader of the house.
He said the idea of consensus-building emerged after the processes for the election of a Speaker were compromised by chaos and the snatching of ballot boxes.
According to him, the election process of selecting a new speaker of parliament was not concluded when chaos erupted at Parliament on December 7th 2021.
Speaking on Kumasi-based OTEC FM’s Breakfast show dubbed “Nyansapo” on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, the Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency disclosed that Alban Bagbin was adopted as the then speaker of parliament for purposes of swearing in members of the 8th legislators.
“Alban Bagbin was only adopted as the speaker of parliament just so to swear in the members of Parliament after the initial voting process failed, we had planned to conduct the elections again in two weeks time to constitutionally elect a new speaker but some members of the minority declined the idea leaving Alban Bagbin as the leader of the House,” he told the programme’s host, Captain Koda.
The former Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo and a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin was elected as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament.
Mr. Bagbin, who was the Second Deputy Speaker in the previous Parliament reportedly won the elections with 138 votes.
His only contender, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye polled 136 votes.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) proposed Alban Bagbin as their choice candidate for the Speaker of Parliament while the New Patriotic Party (NPP) proposed Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye who served as Speaker for the 7th Parliament; 2017 to 2021.
The election of Bagbin was not without controversy as several alien incidents characterized the night including the invasion of military personnel into the parliamentary chamber.
However, the Majority leader of Parliament has emphasized that the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to date did not become the leader of the House by virtue of voting but rather by a consensus which adopted him to temporarily lead them to swear in members of the house.
Source: otecfmghana.com
