Yaw Buaben Asamoa, the communications director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said the continuous outbursts by the former president John Mahama over the declaration by the Supreme Court that Deputy Speakers can be counted and vote on matters when presiding in Parliament is frustrating.
According to Buaben Asamoa, Mahama is a “desperate individual” who wants to win power by any means possible, but does not have any new policies to offer a convincing alternative to Ghanaians.
“This is a desperate individual who is seeking a position without any new policies or options to offer. I find his comments demeaning of a statesman who seeks to lead the country” Buaben Asamoa told Asaase News’s Gemma Appiah. “Because you’re [Mahama], denigrating the country’s image abroad and yet you seek to lead it. You’re not just denigrating those in charge; you’re attacking the basis of every democracy – that’s the judiciary.
“We [the NPP] have consistently rebutted and it’s sad that we have to keep coming back to this same old funny allegation, which makes no difference to our political well-being [but] he keeps going about it so, it’s frustrating …
“He wants to be president without an agenda, he wants to be president without a well-thought-through process that defines him better than before. He wants to be a president but he doesn’t have a platform. So, he is seeking to use lies and half-truths to establish a platform, but those things don’t go far,” Buaben Asamoa said.
Listen to Yaw Buaben Asamoa in the audio clip attached below:
Supreme Court ruling on Deputy Speakers the “most absurd decision”
The former president John Mahama had said the Supreme Court’s declaration that Deputy Speakers can be counted and vote on matters even while presiding in the House is creating problems in Parliament.
Describing the court’s decision as absurd, the former president argues that the seven judges who delivered the ruling do not understand the conventions of Parliament.
“They went to the Supreme Court and went and got a verdict that says the Deputy Speakers presiding have the right to vote. You know, it’s the most absurd decision,” Mahama told members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the United States over the weekend.
“And it was 7-0 – again unanimous … I don’t think that the judges understand the convention in Parliament. You know, in most motions we carry in Parliament, the first vote is a voice vote, and so the Speaker puts the question, ‘As many as are in favour, say “aye” and as many as are against, say “no”.’
“… assume that he comes from that party, it means that he must take part in the voice vote. So I am presiding and then I put the question: ‘As many as are in favour, say aye,’ then I shout ‘aye’ with my party. ‘As many as are not in favour, again say no,’ and then I listen to the nos.
“How can you give an impartial verdict? It’s like [being] a referee in your own match, referee and player at the same time. But there are many other things that will create a problem, and already we are beginning to see it with the quorum issues and all that …”
Nicholas Brown
Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
99.5 in Accra, 101.5 in Bawku, 99.9 in Bimbilla, 100.3 in Cape Coast, 90.7 in Ho, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 89.5 in Tarkwa and 106.9 in Walewale
Join the conversation. Call: 020 000 9951 or 059 415 7777. Or WhatsApp: 020 000 0995.
#AsaaseRadio
#TheVoiceofOurLand