The Executive Director of the Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Dr. Rashid Draman is urging the Minority in Parliament to participate in the debate on the State of Nation Address scheduled for next Tuesday.
This follows the Minority’s boycott of the State of the Nation Address delivered by President Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday [February 20, 2020].
Members of the Minority Caucus staged a walkout amidst chants of ‘we resist oppressors rule’; shortly after President Akufo-Addo entered the Chamber to deliver his address.
Dr. Draman told Citi News that the conduct of the Minority left a dent on the image of Ghana especially in the sight of democracy watchers.
“Our leaders will really have to find a way to dialogue. We are a democracy, not a one-party state. The Minority and Majority need each other. It is certainly a dent, at a time when the whole world was watching our country as a very good example of democracy in the sub-region and beyond. And we have the President left with a one-sided House to deliver his address,” he said.
Minority walkout
The Minority staged the walkout minutes before President Akufo-Addo started the address.
The Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu at a press conference after the address justified the caucus’ decision, citing highhandedness by the government.
“Since becoming President of our republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has conducted the affairs of state with the kind of tyranny, despotism and authoritarianism that frightens many objective observers. We have in the face of extreme provocation exercised restraint and urged the president to depart from his perilous path that puts the democracy of our country at great risk,” he said.
“Sadly, matters are totally out of control. The democracy we all toiled and sacrificed to establish is now threatened by the highhandedness of President Akufo-Addo. The man who in opposition styled himself as a champion democrat has turned out to be a nightmare and an existential threat to our fledgeling democracy. We continue to witness heightened impunity from officialdom,” Haruna Iddrisu added.