By Iddi Yire
Accra, April 26, GNA – Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has underscored the need for parliaments to share experiences and learn from one another to enhance governance.
This, he said, would also sustain the confidence of the electorate in their elected representatives and improve parliamentary democracy.
A statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament copied to the Ghana News Agency said Speaker Bagbin was speaking at Westminster at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Branch Office of the House of Commons, London.
The Speaker was heading a parliamentary delegation to the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament to discuss areas of cooperation between the parliaments of Ghana and the UK.
The statement said approaches to conducting parliamentary business effectively, managing hung parliaments and narrow majorities, making parliamentary scrutiny and oversight more efficient, and promoting a collaborative work environment in parliament were at the center of the discussions.
Speaker Bagbin said Ghana’s Parliament was working on a new set of Standing Orders to provide practical guidance and procedures for situations that had hitherto not been factored into its Standing Orders.
He explained that the previous Standing Orders hardly anticipated a hung parliament and did not make provision for rules to govern such a situation, making it overly focused on a composition of parliament with a clear majority.
The current hung parliament and years of usage have thrown into sharp focus, the need to comprehensively review parliament’s Standing Orders.
The Speaker referred to Parliament’s consideration of a motion of censure of a Minister of State and the various commentaries and opinions shared on that ever since.
He said the debate as to whether such a motion of censure was a legal or political matter was yet to be settled.
As the Speaker of the first hung parliament in Ghana, he explained, he navigates such unchartered waters relying on his three decades of experience with the legislature, his experience as a lawyer, and what makes common sense.
Consequently, drawing parallels with similar situations in other parliaments, particularly within the CPA, would help improve parliamentary democracy in Ghana.
Speaker Bagbin shared experiences of the Parliament of Ghana regarding the subject of vacation of a seat by a Member of Parliament.
The Speaker noted that whether the choice of the electorate as to who represents them in Parliament could be overturned or wished away by a Committee of Parliament without recourse to a debate and decision of plenary session.
The experience of the UK Parliament in similar instances, he believed, was worth sharing.
Mr Jon Davies, the Chief Executive of the CPA UK Branch, described the issues raised by the Speaker as striking and familiar with some of the issues that other parliaments have had to deal with.
He was confident that the UK Parliament would have an anchor for most of the issues.
Mr Davies was happy with the visit by the Ghana Parliamentary Delegation, which he said would further strengthen the bilateral links between the two legislatures of the CPA.
The statement said Mr Bagbin held discussions with members of the UK Parliament and other senior officials on parliamentary procedure in the UK Parliament, and parliamentary accountability through committees.
It said he also had meetings with Andrew Mitchell, the UK Minister for Development and Africa and Mr Stephen Twigg, Secretary-General of the CPA.
Members of the Speaker’s Delegation included Mr Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, the Clerk to Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, the Assistant Deputy Clerk and Mr Magnus Kofi Amoatey, Legal Counsel to the Speaker.
The rest are Mr Gayheart Mensah, the Director of the Speaker’s Communication Team and Mr Charles Dery Tenzagh, the Deputy Director of Parliamentary Relations.
GNA