The Majority Caucus of Parliament, said the purported rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and economic Policy by the Minority of the House, is null and void and unconstitutional.
According to the Majority, the decision by the Minority was borne out of their sheer desire to subject the Government of Ghana to embarrassment for mere partisan reasons.
In a statement issued by the Majority Caucus in Parliament, it noted that
Article 104 of the 1992 Constitution and Order 109 of the Steering Orders of Parliament are explicit on the voting patterns in the House.
According to the Majority, the two provisions require that at least 138 MPs needed to have been present in the Chamber at the time of the voting, hence the claim the budget has been rejected by 137 Members of the House is unconstitutional and laughable.
“The Majority Causus finds it unfortunate that after making requests to the Finance Minister to reconsider some items in the Budget Statement, the Minority Caucus assisted by Speaker Bagbin, who had earlier indicated his ability to obstruct Government business, refused to give the Finance Minister an opportunity to accommodate their requests and instead hurriedly moved to on their own, attempted to vote against the Budget in a bid to subject the Government of Ghana to embarrassment for mere partisan reasons,” it said.
It also mentioned that the acts of the Minority and the decision of the Speaker to endorse the said rejection constitute an unconstitutionality and “an illegality and should be disregarded, as same is void and of no effect whatsoever.”
They said, Speaker Alban Bagbin cannot declare that 137 members of Parliament have the power to take a decision for parliament and as such, have consequently rejected the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana, stressing a disregard of that decision.
The Majority however gave the assurance that it remains resolute to ensure that the 1992 Constitution is respected to the letter by Speaker, Alban Bagbin and the Minority and stressed that Ghana and the 1992 Constitution must override partisanship.
