‘Gallant’ NDC defended right of NPP MPs to vote secretly – Ayariga

Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, said his party’s actions in parliament on January 7 was the sign of a commitment to democracy and that the NDC helped protect the sanctity of the legislature.

“The NDC MPs-elect, their gallantry, their bravery, their commitment to our democracy, the protection of the sanctity of parliament and our ability to resist. I think that is what should be commended,” Ayariga said during a Citi TV news analysis program.

He stressed that it was the action of the NDC MPs that allowed New Patriotic Party, NPP, lawmakers to cast their ballots in secrecy during the vote for a new speaker.

Co-panelist and Akuapem South MP, Osei Bonsu Amoah, rejected Ayariga’s assertion bemoaning the rowdy manner in which some members of the NDC conducted themselves during the session.

The issue of secret ballots was at the center of the now controversial vote that produced former lawmaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, as Speaker.

Reports said he received 138 votes – meaning he got a vote from the NPP – because both parties have 137 MPs in the 275 seater chamber. The sole outsider being the MP for Fomena, who is an independent candidate.

The NPP has, however, officially disputed the report that Bagbin won the vote outright. Deputy chief whip Habib Iddrisu said in an interview monitored by Ghanaweb that Bagbin and former speaker Mike Oquaye had polled 136 votes apiece with one spoilt ballot.

“When the leadership met, we countered the votes and it was 136...there was one spoilt ballot. The NDC alleged that the two missing ballot papers were chewed by Carlos Ahenkorah. So we decided to confer it on Bagbin,” Habib Iddrisu said.