Vacant seats controversy: Afenyo-Markin’s comment against Bagbin ‘unparliamentary and unruly’ – Ansa Asare

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Former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansa Asare has criticised leader of the NPP Caucus in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin for accusing Speaker Bagbin of “supervising chaos and setting the country on fire”.

Kwaku Ansa Asare noted that Afenyo-Markin’s statement against the Speaker is “unparliamentary” and smacks of disrespect against the Speaker.

Speaking in an interview on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, November 10, the private legal practitioner said the Effutu MP’s action has caused a “scar on the conscience of the nation.”

He urged Afenyo-Markin to apologise to the whole nation for his “unruly” conduct.

“…like the unfortunate language of Afenyo-Markin attacking the Speaker was unparliamentary, very uncultured. This is the first time I am seeing live an MP attack the Speaker of Parliament using unparliamentary language, using invectives, assaulting the speaker’s character and playing to the gallery.

“It’s unwarranted and uncalled for…this is not the way a majority leader should address the Speaker. No Speaker would wreak havoc on a nation, what for?” he told Kemini Amanor.

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, adjourned the House indefinitely on Thursday due to the absence of business for lawmakers to deliberate on, following the failure of the Business Committee to meet and prepare the necessary agenda for the floor.

In his address to the House, Bagbin highlighted that without committee input and an agenda, the session could not proceed as planned.

In a media interview, the NPP caucus, led by the Effutu Member of Parliament (MP), Alexander Afenyo-Markin, accused the Speaker of supervising chaos in the chamber, which they said was undermining the country’s democracy.

He also stated that Bagbin was “setting the country on fire,” for which reason he should demonstrate statesmanship.

In a related development, the NDC caucus in Parliament has also condemned Afenyo-Markin’s conduct.

In a statement, signed and issued by Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Ellembelle on Friday, November 8, the NDC caucus noted that Afenyo-Markin attacked the Speaker in very unsavoury and unparliamentary terms.

The statement added that the NDC caucus demands “an immediate and unqualified apology from Afenyo-Markin for the unwarranted attacks which are deliberately calculated to lower the office of the Speaker of Parliament in the eyes of right-thinking Ghanaians.”

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