Minority NPP Legislators in Ghana End Their Boycott of Parliament
Intense pressure mounted within and outside the largest opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) circles has forced the party’s legislators to eat humble pie as they participated in the presentation of the budget statement by the Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Seth Terkper on the floor of parliament on Tuesday.
The minority NPP legislators boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of the President John Dramani in January claiming he did not win the election and that they would not participate in any program associated with the president. The NPP is challenging the case at the Supreme Court.
To justify their position they went ahead to boycott President Mahama’s State of Nation Address and abstained from debating the address. They subsequently boycotted vetting of ministerial nominees by the president attracting heavy criticism from some key members of the party like Mr Kwame Pianim and Dr Wereko Brobbey who advised them to refrain from that dangerous kind of politics.
Buckled under the pressure, the minority NPP legislators were in Parliament on Tuesday to listen to the budget read by the finance minister.
In moving the motion for the adjournment of the proceedings, the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu described the budget as an empty one which would not take the country anywhere in the face of rising domestic debts, but he assured the house that they were going to participate in its debate. It was a sigh of relief for the NPP members who are worried about the stance taken by the leadership of the party which some of them fear would lead to its disintegration.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
Category: Africa
