MP for Sagnarigu Constituency in the Northern Region and Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Communications Committee, Alhassan Fuseini Bashir, has stated that the minority prefers to debate on the President’s State of the Nation’s Address (SONA) in the media than on the floor of parliament, because they view the media as a more credible means to debate the SONA than on the floor of parliament.
According to him, this action of a ‘non-participatory position’ on the floor of parliament is a way of being consistent with their decision to stage a walk-out during the SONA.
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In an interview on the Happy Morning Show aired on Happy 98.9FM, he said: “We are not participating in the debate on the floor of the house but by no means are we not sharing our bit of the debate. In fact if you will recall we had a press conference and we have since engaged the media. Even as we are in the sittings of parliament we hold press conferences and meetings sometimes on an hourly basis depending on the issues that come up”.
He furthered that they had taken all legitimate means to “expose lies and distortions that were perpetrated in the State of the Nation Address”, however, they had not received the desirable results. As such, they are “taking advantage of every other medium to give [their] part of view, and to give a clear position of the true state of the nation under Nana Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians through the media”.
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“We find the media a more credible means to channel our views to the public for the public to appreciate the true state of the nation under Nana Akufo-Addo”, he added.
When quizzed by host Samuel Eshun if this was the right step to take especially considering that their constituents will expect that the MPs represent them in questioning SONA in Parliament, he had this to say:
“The floor of Parliament is just one means of asking questions. There are other means or media through which those questions can be asked, and I just indicated to you that we are taking full advantage of the media to give a clear position on SONA. And indeed sometimes even the media interactions is more cogent because that is where after you ask the questions, you give further clarifications. And so to that extent it is a very cogent medium of sending that kind of information to the public. These are what the media and public listen to. The public will not even follow most of the debates on the floor of the house. But when you take it directly to the media, I can tell you that you have more listenership than when we even engage in the floor of the house”.
Members of Parliament would, today, begin the debate on the State of the Nation Address presented to Parliament by the President, last Thursday.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah