Let’s respect the Speaker of Parliament - Tema MCE

The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Felix Mensah Nii Annang – La, has expressed disappointment in the Minority in Parliament for “unwholesome name-calling “of the Speaker of Parliament.

Speaking in Tema, he said, the threat to initiate impeachment against the Speaker on grounds of supposedly being biased denigrated the office of the third most important official of the land.

He said,“I think the Minority are attempting to blackmail our Speaker through this threat to impeach him and it is very unfortunate because it is an unprecedented attack on the Speaker.

I mean throughout the Fourth Republic, we have had Speakers from both the NDC and the NPP but none has been blackmailed on the job the way Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Oquaye is being blackmailed and I think this is unfortunate.”

Mr Annang-La’s submission was in respect of an open threat by the Minority from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) side in Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Speaker on grounds of bias.

But the Tema Mayor believes that the development is as unfortunate as it is disrespectful of the Speaker adding “even if it were true that the Speaker was really being unfair, the question is why didn’t the Minority meet him on a personal level and thrush out issues with him rather than to rush to town with this unwholesome accusation.”

“Why was the Minority quick to wash Parliament’s dirt in public if indeed there was any dirt? I think this development is not only abusive of the Speaker but also unwholesome for our democracy, ” he said.

Mr Annang -La called on the Minority to apologize to the Speaker, saying after that “they should make it a point to stop threatening the Speaker.”

However, an executive member of the Tema East branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Ashitey Adjei, who is popularly known as “Mo-shake”, has called on Parliament as a body to kill that perception before it gained roots.

He said, “I can’t condemn the Speaker but we will be happy if the old parliamentary convention that ,the majority must have its way and the minority , its say, should prevail. Parliament is the number one check on the executive, and so any perception to the contrary is dangerous.”