Military intervention in Parliament was necessary - Security Analyst

Political Scientist, Dr Isaac Brako says chaos at the inauguration of Members of Parliament (MP)-elect into the 8th Parliament was beyond the control of the Police and Marshals of the house.

As an ardent student of politics, the academician noted that the chaotic atmosphere at parliament today has never happened in the country’s history. “Not even when things were crucial back in the day”, he added.

According to him, the Parliamentarians had no regard for the Police and Marshals who attempted to bring calm and order to the house, hence the need for military intervention.

He shared his thoughts in an interview with Samuel Eshun, host of the Happy Morning Show aired one.TV Ghana and Happy 98.9 FM.

In the interview, Dr Brako said, “From the footages we’ve all seen, you can see the Police and the Marshals were not able to separate MPs engaged scuffles on the floor of Parliament. They did not even regard the police who were brought in to intervene in the situation.

Dr. Brako stated that after chaos interrupted in the house for the 4th time, it was then decided that was wise for the military to intervene and that is what is happened.

He judged the decision as sound and proactive as it prevented the MPs from any bodily harm.

“You don’t wait for violence to happen before you say had I known. But you take the actions now to prevent any harm. Had I known would’ve been bad and that is why the military intervened”, Dr Brako reiterated.

The election of Bagbin was not without controversy as several alien incidents characterized the night including the invasion of military personnel into the parliamentary chamber.

Background

The election of the Speaker of Parliament and the swearing-in of Parliamentarians has not without controversy as several alien incidents characterized the night into the day including the invasion of military personnel into the parliamentary chamber.

Earlier, the NDC Members of Parliament, clad in white, moved to sit on the right side of the Speaker to indicate they were in the majority which sparked serious controversy.

Later the issue of allowing the MP-elect for Assin North, Richard Quayson to vote in the election came up strongly as the Clerk who superintended over the voting process indicated that he would not allow him to cast his ballot because a court injunction had been granted to bar him from holding himself out as the MP.

That issue was resolved and the NDC MP allowed to vote subsequently.

During counting of the ballots, the Member of Parliament for Tema West and former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry ran to the table and snatched the uncounted ballots of Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye and attempted to bolt with it.