NPP MPs abandon Parliament chamber to await Speaker’s directives

Members of Parliament (MPs) from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) marched out of the House on Tuesday morning after National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs occupied their seats. Leading the NPP MPs, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, MP for Effutu, said they were retreating to their offices to await directives from the Speaker, Alban Sumana Bagbin, on the way forward.

According to Afenyo-Markin, they chose the path of peace rather than confronting their opponents to avoid chaos, insisting that Ghana is a peaceful country that should be maintained as such.

“Mr. Speaker has been part of our democracy since 1992. He is a senior lawyer, he has practiced in our courts, and I believe that even if Mr. Speaker disagrees with the Supreme Court, he knows what to do. Suffice it to say, at the risk of being repetitive, that we were not disrespectful of the chair when Mr. Speaker made his pronouncement, and the Majority Caucus disagreed with him. We didn’t cause commotion here.

We left quietly and told Mr. Speaker that the right place to express those grievances would be in court. So, we expect our brothers and sisters on the NDC minority side to do the needful. But it will all be for Mr. Speaker to make a final determination. The nation is looking up to Mr. Speaker; with all his years in politics, this is a crucial moment for him to add weight to what we have done to preserve the peace.

“NPP is for peace, NPP is for peace, NPP is for the peace of Ghana. We will not allow anyone to disturb the peace of this country. It is well known that we remain the Majority Caucus of this Parliament. You, the media, must add your voice to the advocacy to compel our colleagues to respect the rule of law.”

He then led his colleagues out as they sang the NPP party anthem, while jubilant NDC MPs booed them, chanting, “Away, away, away.”

The scenes unfolding in Parliament had been anticipated, following last week’s confusion surrounding the Speaker’s declaration of four seats as vacant and the subsequent stay of execution of the declaration by the Supreme Court.