Justice Emile Short, a former Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has urged Parliament to use dialogue in resolving their differences on issues.
Parliament has come under intense pressure after members of the House shouted at each other and engaged in an open brawl in Parliament on Monday evening (20 December 2021) as the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, vacated his seat to enable him also to cast a vote to pass the controversial E-Levy under a certificate of urgency.
Speaking to Beatrice Adu on the Big Bulletin, on Tuesday (25 January), Short said “It was disappointing to witness the brawl that broke out in Parliament during the discussion a government’s proposed position of Electronic Levy in which we saw MPs throwing punches at each other. This incident went viral both domestically and internationally and I think was a blemish on our democratic credentials.”
“…So, my hope and I’m sure it is the hope of all Ghanaians; is that this incident will not happen again and that in 2022 and beyond, the hope of Ghanaians will be that greater decorum will be observed in Parliament and that disagreement will be resolved by dialogue,” he stated.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information has said in a recent article that Members of Parliament have a responsibility to be civil in the august House.
According to him, “We are guilty of damaging the country’s image and democratic record. But we have a chance to recover as Parliament resumes sittings from today (25 January). As has been announced, we in the Majority will re-engage our colleagues in the Minority and seek to reach consensus on matters we may disagree on.”
Nicholas Brown
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