The Minority in Parliament has moved a motion for the House to set aside the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Nana Akufo-Addo government.
While making the demand in Parliament on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, asked for a rescission of the decision by the Majority Caucus.
He added that what the Majority Caucus did was a betrayal of the Standing Orders of Parliament and the 1992 Constitution.
“Mr. Speaker, yesterday [Tuesday], as reported by the votes and proceedings which has been adopted, I’m begging to move that the decision which was taken yesterday [Tuesday] in adopting purportedly a budget statement subject to concessions was unconstitutional and a betrayal of our rules and standing orders and a betrayal of the 1992 constitution.”
What happened on Tuesday?
Parliament under the leadership of First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, overturned an earlier rejection of the 2022 budget statement through his interpretation of the constitution and the standing orders of Parliament.
The First Deputy Speaker included himself in the total number of MPs in the House before having the motion for the reversal of the rejection of the 2022 Budget moved.
This is in spite of the fact that he served as the Speaker of Parliament in the absence of Alban Bagbin, who is in Dubai for a medical check-up.
His inclusion pushed the number of the Majority Caucus MPs to 138; one more than the Minority.
This kept the Majority within the remit of standing orders, which stipulate that no question for decision in the House shall be proposed for determination unless there are present in the House not less than one-half of all the Members of the House.
Mr. Owusu then pushed through the motion arguing that Mr. Bagbin, erred in overseeing the rejection of the budget by the Minority side last Friday since there was no clear majority in the House during the proceedings.
source: citinewsroom
