The speaker chastises the majority for blaming the NDC for the delay in the mini-budget presentation.
The New Patriotic Party majority caucus in Parliament has come under heavy fire from Speaker of the House Alban Bagbin for attributing the delays in presenting the government’s mini-budget to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Habib Iddrisu, the First Deputy Majority Whip, charged during a parliamentary session on Thursday, December 19, that the minority NDC was impeding progress by arguing over parliamentary leadership.
For this reason, we brought back parliament, but we were preoccupied with squabbling about who would be the majority and minority. Thus, it will be finished tomorrow,” he said.
The Speaker, however, forcefully refuted the claim, calling it unfair and without merit.
He explained that there were other factors that contributed to the delay, which he chose not to publicly reveal, rather than the NDC minority.
“You made claims that the Speaker or the minority were to blame for the delay because you skipped sitting yesterday and two days ago while I was away. “That’s not true,” he said.
Additionally, the Speaker cautioned the majority against pressuring him to provide information that would be detrimental to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
As delays persist, the mini-budget, a crucial instrument for resolving urgent financial issues, has come under increased scrutiny. According to reports, Finance Minister Dr. Amin Adam has missed four days in a row of parliamentary sessions, which has left the budget for the first quarter of the upcoming year unsettled.
Members of Parliament have expressed serious alarm over this, with some charging the government with ignoring its economic obligations during this crucial transitional phase.
Dr. Ato Forson, the minority leader, bemoaned the Finance Minister’s absence and encouraged him to carry out his constitutional obligations, cautioning that there would be severe legal and political repercussions if he did not present the mini-budget on time.
