The Majority in Parliament says the attack on the President by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, for failing to assent to some private member’s bill is unfortunate.
The President, in a letter to Parliament, explained that his decision to decline assenting to the Criminal Offences Amendment Bill and the Ghana Armed Forces Amendment Bill sponsored by the Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu, was based on the potential financial impact on the state’s consolidated fund and a violation of Article 108 of the constitution.
But the Speaker, in response, said the President was tragically wrong and was ill-advised by the Attorney General.
Reacting to the matter in Parliament in Accra on Monday, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu indicated that “If the Speaker disagrees with him, it is legitimate, and he could have ended at that. I disagree with the opinion of the president. Then maybe I also come up with my understanding of the law. But we all saw and heard the rather visceral language of the speaker.”
“I thought it was most unfortunate. The Speaker, after reading it, goes on his own frolic and attacks the president, and I felt it was most unfortunate.”
