Fire On The Mountain

Alban Bagbin

There is fire on the mountain leading to Parliament House. Very unfortunately, very distinguished Ghanaians are pretending everything is well with our democratic process.

Speaker Alban Bagbin claims there is no constitutional crisis in the country, yet the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority is still insisting to be the default Majority.

During his media engagement last Tuesday, the Speaker is reported to have said he did not make a judgment on the four Members of Parliament (MPs), saying judgments are not made on statements in the House. “Minority is still Minority, and Majority still Majority,” he stated.

We are sad that in spite of the above statement, the Minority yesterday occupied the Majority side in Parliament while the Speaker looked on helplessly. And yet despite the situation now, the Speaker pretends there is no fire on the mountain and has the audacity to defy the orders of the Supreme Court.

If the Speaker, who is number three in the leadership structure in the country, is truly the umpire of the legislative arm of government that makes laws, he will not be challenging the authority of the Supreme Court.

Again, the Speaker claims he respects the Constitution of the Republic and not the order of the Supreme Court. The question is: who interprets the laws that are crafted by Parliament?

The actions of the Speaker portend danger for our democracy, and that is why we are calling on sane voices to speak out and call out Speaker Bagbin to safeguard the peace and stability of Ghana. We are worried about the developments in Parliament, especially when the NDC Minority is “misbehaving” that they are the Majority, something they did not win at the polling stations.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia told the NDC Minority that Majority positions are won at the polling stations but not in Parliament as is being claimed by Ato Forson and his group.

Partisan politics is adversarial but we can learn to tolerate divergent opinions, even if we detest the views expressed by our opponents.

Even as we fight for leadership of the country on December 7, we should all behave like the cockerels which, during their fights for supremacy, are mindful of their eyes.

Let us compete fiercely for the leadership of the country but with one goal to safeguard the interest of mother Ghana.

Nothing can be more crucial than the interest of the country. In this vein, we urge Speaker Bagbin to suppress his ego, and put Ghana first, so that government business will not suffer because of political expediency. Whatever the situation that we find ourselves in now, whether Speaker Bagbin and his NDC want to wreck the policies of the Akufo-Addo government in order to create the conducive environment for John Mahama’s comeback, that decision rests with the good people of Ghana on December 7.

Let us do clean politics and avoid actions that exacerbate the political temperature to destabilise our democracy. We have a lot to gain if Ghana remains the beacon of hope in Africa by ensuring that there is peace and unity now, during and after the December 7 polls.

We urge Speaker Bagbin not to sow a seed of discord in our society because his disrespect for Supreme Court orders is creating the space for a return to the state of nature where those who feel strong like Speaker Bagbin will ignore the civilised norms of our society. Speaker Bagbin is creating the opportunity for those who have the love for the rule of law to cite him for contempt.

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