Interior Minister and Member of Parliament for Asawase Constituency, Muntaka Mubarak, has criticized the Minority Leader, Afenyo Markin, accusing him of repeatedly disrupting parliamentary proceedings by speaking out of turn and disregarding established rules of engagement.
During a heated exchange on the floor of Parliament, Muntaka expressed frustration over what he described as the Minority Leader’s habit of “turning the roof of this house upside down” by hijacking the floor and speaking without adherence to parliamentary protocols.
“As one of the leaders in this house, he must learn to respect the rules that govern our proceedings,” Muntaka stated emphatically.
“The Minority Leader keeps hijacking the floor, crying out without referencing any rule, and simply speaks out of turn. This is absolutely wrong, Mr. Speaker.”
Muntaka referenced Order 160 of the parliamentary rules to clarify the proper procedure for handling bills considered to be of an urgent nature.
He explained that under this order, a sponsor may submit a bill without prior publication if deemed urgent, and the Speaker would then refer the bill to the appropriate committee to determine its urgency before the first reading.
He further elaborated, “If the committee determines that the bill is indeed urgent, it informs the house by a report, and the bill may be taken through all stages in one day, as per Article 106 (13). However, once the bill is referred to the committee, no other member has the opportunity to speak on it until the committee reports back to the house.”
Muntaka expressed concern that the Minority Leader’s conduct was undermining these procedures.
“He gets up and speaks any time he wishes, without waiting for the committee’s report or following the rules. This behavior is unacceptable,” he said.
Calling for order, Muntaka urged the Speaker to intervene and remind the Minority Leader of the need to respect parliamentary decorum.
“Mr. Speaker, with the greatest respect, we need to bring the minority leader to order for him to understand that no, this house is governed by rules and he cannot be speaking out of rules and be behaving as if he’s a small child who has lost his food and therefore he’s behaving anyhow. Mr. Speaker, let’s get him to act in order because he’s completely out of order.”
Source : www.kumasimail.com/ Kwadwo Owusu
