Paul Adom-Otchere tips Mike Oquaye or Freddy Blay for Speaker of Parliament role

Paul Adom-Otchere, the host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV has tipped either Freddy Blay or Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye to be named Speaker of the 8th parliament of the fourth republic.

The Speaker of the eighth parliament of the fourth republic has become an issue of interest due to the make-up of the house.

Official figures gazetted by the Electoral Commission indicates that the NPP has 137 seats in Parliament while the NDC has 137 with one independent seat.

In the past few weeks, the names of Freddy Blay, Justice Jones Dotse and incumbent Mike Oquaye have been bandied about as the final three for the position.

Doing a SWOT analysis of the three respected figures on his show, Adom-Otchere said that while Justice Dotse would have come across as a fair and independent speaker, the nature of the 8th parliament demands that an experienced politician and parliamentarian is handed the role.

“Justice Dotsei is the gentleman we would like to eliminate from the race for now because given the distribution of parliament there has to be a speaker who understands political nuancing. Justice Dotse is not a politician, he is a judge, an umpire and that’s what his training has been. He does not possess the skills of political nuancing”, he said.

After ruling out Justice Dotse, Paul Adom-Otchere assessed the chances of Freddy Blay and current speaker Professor Mike Oquaye.

On Freddy Blay he said that “Freddy Blay comes to this with huge experience. He has been a second deputy speaker of parliament before. From 1997 up until 2000, he was second deputy speaker. He was first deputy speaker to Peter Ala-Adjetey. He brings that experience to the seat”.

“He is originally not an NPP member. He is a CPP member who became party chairman of the NPP. His strength is his affability and ability to talk to people. He is very jovial and also bring huge media background”, he said.

Touching on Mike Oquaye, Adom-Otchere mentioned inclusiveness and his ability to appeal to both sides of the house as his major achievement.

“Professor Mike Oquaye has managed the parliament till now so he is the incumbent. Those who like Mike Oquaye have said that members of the NDC have said publicly that Mike Oquaye has been a good speaker. That’s very good for him because you are looking for a speaker that the NDC will accept. People talk about inclusiveness”.

“People say Mike Oquaye has the ability to include people. He had very close interactions with MPs from both sides. He brought to the Parliamentary Service Board, one MP from majority and minority. This is important because it is the board that controls parliament and until Mike Oquaye, the first and second deputy speakers were not members of the board. Only Mike Oquaye could be on the board but now it meant that both majority and minority had members on the board” he said.

He however concluded the analysis with a subtle endorsement of Mike Oquaye who he reckons deserves another term just like the president.

“So for these matters that Mike Oquaye has established during his time, some people believe that it is time for Mike Oquaye to be given a second term. After all the president has a second term, vice president has a second term, the speaker is the third man in action so why can’t he also have a second term?”

“We conclude by indicating to you the race is between the legendary Freddy Blay and the legendary Professor Mike Oquaye whose credentials I have given to you”.