Minority serve notice to President Mills

Accra, April 22, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Wednesday served notice that they would no longer tolerate the situation where permission has to be granted for another Minister of State to lay papers on the floor of the House on behalf of another Minister who is absent.

They have therefore called on Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, to convey their concerns to President J.E.A Mills to take steps to address the matter since in their view, a Minister of Parliamentary Affairs could easily have helped to serve as a bridge between the two arms of government to facilitate executive business.

This issue came up on the floor when Mr Bagbin sought permission from Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo, Speaker, to allow the Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Local Government Minister to a lay paper covering a petroleum agreement before Parliament on behalf of Energy Minister, Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, who was absent.

Under the rules of the leg islature, only Ministers of State can lay papers from the executive arm of government. Under the previous government, both the Majority and Deputy Majority leaders were made Ministers and therefore could step in and facilitate such businesses and lay papers on behalf of Ministers who were unable to be present in the House.

However, under the Mills administration, Mr Bagbin and Mr John Tia, deputy Majority are not Ministers and this has made it difficult for them to transact some government businesses on behalf of the Executive. The NDC Majority side has always had to fall on Ministers present at Parliamentary proceedings to step in for absentee Ministers, who have to attend to business on the floor.

This situation has, since the inception of the Fifth Parliament, been a thorny and unresolved issue between the Majority and Minority. It appears President Mills may have to renege on his stance and appoint a Minister of Parliamentary Affairs or elevate the status of the Majority Leader to that of a Minister of State to serve as a link between the Executive and Legislature to speed up government business.