The majority caucus in Parliament does not have the authority to independently appoint its leaders without the involvement of the political party overseeing the process, Speaker Alban Bagbin has declared.
He said this during a parliamentary session on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
According to him, there was a need for the political party with representation in the House to have a say in the selection process of its leaders in the House.
The Majority Caucus on Tuesday, debunked media reports of a change in the leadership of the House.
The Speaker’s comments were made after Alhassan Suhuyini, a member of Parliament for Tamale North, requested clarification on the new standing orders of the house regarding the selection of caucus leaders.
Alhassan Suhiyini informed the Speaker that President Akufo-Addo is scheduled to meet with the majority caucus to address the crisis, and the Tamale North MP is awaiting the house’s response.
The Speaker in his remarks said: “I have heard, listened and I know that the parties are having problems with this new definition of the new leaders, that is only where this confusion is coming from. The old order refers to party or parties, but this new one is not referring to a party but caucuses. The old order defines the majority leader to mean a member of parliament designated by the party or parties holding majority of the seats as their recognized leader in the house. Now this new order says designate means appoints.
The same standing orders talk about the majority caucus, and it says majority caucus means the members of the party or parties that have the largest number of seats. I don’t see the difference, the caucus is the party wing. That is the wing of the party in parliament. You cannot be talking about appointing or designating your leaders without the party leading the process. I don’t understand that, it’s the same definition here.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
