NPP not majority, they belong to ‘majority group’ – Bagbin clarifies

“I haven’t stated that the NPP has a majority in Parliament, I haven’t said that,” these are the words of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

He was responding to a request for clarity on his earlier declaration that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and an Independent Candidate constituted ‘the majority group’ in the House.

The request came from the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu. The Speaker, in responding to the Tamale South MP, stressed that he had spoken of a majority group – consisting of the NPP caucus and its ally in the person of the Fomena MP, Andrew Amoako Asiamah.

Before his clarification, the speaker stressed: “Honourable members, coming from the high office of the personality of the leader of the NDC wing in Parliament, sometimes referred to as caucus, I will try to clarify what I said.

“The word group means more than one and before I used that phrase, I did state that no party had advantage over the other in terms of the numbers.

“But since the independent member, decided to do business, decided to associate in the conduct of business on the floor of this house with the NPP wing or caucus in Parliament, the two put together now constitute majority parliamentary group.”

He continued that with legal challenges surrounding a number of seats, it was only a matter of time before a clear majority or minority in the house would be established. He tasked members to unite to champion the national agenda because Ghanaians were not interested in partisanship.

“…clearly when you go through the symbols, particularly the maze, and the traditional meanings of the symbols there, you will understand that the good people of Ghana are not interested in this kind of partisanship,” he added.

This ensued today, January 15, 2021, during the first sitting.