The new Majority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
The new Majority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has emphasised the caucus’ commitment to prioritising the interests of Ghanaians.
According to him, some conspiracies prevented the National Democratic Congress (NDC) from becoming the Majority despite the support of Ghanaians.
Speaking in an interview after a parliamentary sitting on October 17, Ato Forson said, “We have just moved from Minority to Majority. In fact, the people of Ghana voted for the NDC Majority. But if not for certain machinations, this should have happened from day one. But we are finally here. We want to use this opportunity to assure the people of Ghana that the NDC Majority will stand for the people of Ghana, any day, any time.”
Ato Forson acknowledged the difficulties facing Ghanaians and assured that the new Majority will work to improve the lives of citizens since they currently have the working numbers.
“We are here to do the business of the people of Ghana. We are here to begin the process to reset our country. Our country has gone through difficult times. In fact, often times the people of Ghana have blamed Parliament for not standing up for the people of Ghana but obviously you cannot blame the Minority because we were not having the working Majority. Today, we have the working majority and we will begin the process to reset our country,” he stated.
Ato Forson added that their new Majority caucus will elect a new Second Deputy Speaker on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
“We will begin the process, we will elect a new Second Deputy Speaker on Tuesday,” he said.
The Minority in Parliament became the Majority on October 17, 2024, after the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, declared four seats in parliament vacant.
Background
The Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, announced that his caucus intended to invoke Article 97 (g) to demand that the seats of three New Patriotic Party MPs and that of an MP from the National Democratic Congress caucus be declared vacant.
Haruna Iddrisu’s reaction stemmed from the nominations filed by MPs for Agona West and Suhum, who are members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to contest in the 2024 parliamentary election as independent candidates.
The independent MP for Fomena also filed his nomination to contest in the election on the ticket of the NPP, and the Amenfi Central MP, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), also filed his nomination to contest as an independent candidate.
However, Article 97 [1(g) & (h)] of the 1992 Constitution states that “a member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member; or if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party.”
In reaction to this, the Speaker of Parliament declared four seats vacant, resulting in the minority becoming the majority in parliament.
RAD/AE
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