Minority MPs are “dishonest people who can no longer be trusted,” according to the Majority Chief Whip in Parliament.
Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak’s comments come as the minority appears determined not to participate in events brought to the house that directly relate to the Office of the President on the basis that their engagement would undermine the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) case in court challenging the results declared in the 2012 presidential election.
They subsequently boycotted President John Mahama’s swearing-in ceremony on January 1, 2013, as well as his State of the Nation address to parliament on Thursday, February 22, 2013.
Speaking on Adom TV’s Badwam programme on the Multi TV channel, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak said the Minority failed to communicate their decision to stage a walk out to the Majority, as has been the usual practice in the House.
He explained that prior to the most recent boycott, Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu had told him that NPP MPs would be attending the event.
The Asawase MP declared that the Minority’s decision is weakening the strength of Parliament, which he said could negatively affect the NPP should the Supreme Court overturn the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Mahama as the winner of the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minority Leader Dominic Nitiwul has contested the Majority’s claim that the party caucus made the decision without informing the House.
According to the Bimbila MP, the matter was discussed at the pre-sitting meeting with House leadership when Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur took his seat and subsequently struck an agreement with the Majority that their members would not hoot at the Minority when they walked out.
The majority broke this pact, Mr Nitiwul explained, a move he said compelled the Minority members to display placards bearing inscriptions such as “STEALERS,” “THIEVES” and other labels when the President entered the House.
Mr Nitiwul said the NPP would hold their own “true State of the Nation Address” on the same day that Parliament begins its debates on President Mahama’s “false State of the Nation address.”
