Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has sharply criticized Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision to adjourn Parliament indefinitely, describing it as an action that “amounts to supervising chaos” and undermines the integrity of Ghana’s democratic processes.
The adjournment on Thursday, November 7, followed a lack of business in the House due to the absence of New Patriotic Party (NPP) members. In response, Afenyo-Markin expressed his discontent with the sequence of events leading to the decision.
He clarified that the NPP’s absence was not a result of negligence or irresponsibility but stemmed from a procedural issue. Afenyo-Markin explained that the Clerk of Parliament had failed to print the necessary documentation, including the Order Paper, which outlines the agenda for parliamentary discussions.
This oversight, he noted, prevented the NPP from engaging in parliamentary proceedings. Without the Order Paper, the session could not proceed, and the NPP was unable to participate.
Afenyo-Markin stressed that this procedural lapse was at the root of the problem, and the NPP should not be blamed for the adjournment.
Instead, he emphasized that the failure to address the administrative issue led to the misinterpretation of the NPP’s absence as a lack of commitment to parliamentary duties.
“What Mr. Speaker did today amounts to supervising chaos and bringing the image of democracy to disrepute. The NDC minority members were all over claiming that we, the Majority did not attend a so-called Business Committee meeting that they called.
“Who are they and when did we constitute a new committee in Parliament? I chair the Business Committee and when the Clerk of Parliament asked for the Business Committee meeting, I was explicit that the subject matter of the recall is the very matter for consideration and so there was no need to have another business committee.
“Business Committee is to decide on the business of the House and on this occasion, you have made an application which has been granted and the items that had been approved were the very things to be decided on so I directed that the Order Paper be printed to reflect all those items.”