Reshuffling parliamentary leadership demands mandatory consultation - Dr Rasheed Draman

The Executive Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Dr. Rasheed Draman, has emphasized the importance of consultations in the reshuffling of parliamentary leadership.

According to Dr. Draman, leaders within parliament are typically reshuffled through extensive consultations, rather than outright resignations.

Dr. Rasheed Draman's remarks follow the resignation of Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on Wednesday, February 21.

He expressed concerns that the absence of such consultations could hinder the motivation of parliamentarians to contribute fully to their parties.

"It is sad for our parliament but most importantly, it is not a motivation for others to give their all in terms of their contributions to their party and so on," 3news.com quoted Dr. Draman to have said.

He stressed the importance of broad consultations within both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) when considering changes in parliamentary leadership.

"The party has every right, as the leader has said, in terms of making decisions but the keyword is consultation and carrying everybody along," Dr. Draman said.

He also believes that such consultations would dispel the notion that party leadership does not heed the views and suggestions of its members before making decisions.

Dr. Draman further asserted that parliamentary caucuses deserve better treatment from their party leadership.

Reflecting on past events, he said there are dissatisfactions among caucus members during previous reshuffles because of a lack of consultation as the primary issue.

"When the NDC thing [reshuffle] happened, there were a lot of members of the caucus who were very angry, not because of the change but because of the process and how most of them were not consulted," Dr. Draman explained.

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NAY/AE