----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Mensah" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 2:46 PM
Subject: [unioNews] GHANA: Parliamentary Objectivity


Friday, November 14, 2003
<H3>Parliamentary Objectivity</H3>
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, was reported
in our last Wednesday edition to have charged parliamentarians on the
African continent to move away from the negative reputation as rubber
stamps, factionalists, fratricidal infighters, peddlers of ethnicity
and instead assume the front row as partners, and advocates and
implementors of good governance and poverty alleviation.

He, however, reportedly observed that "how parliamentarians would
discharge this large responsibility is the biggest challenge for our
country and for democracy in Africa."

These are really harsh words, and perhaps if these had been uttered
by an ordinary citizen, depending on the context, that person could
or might have been cited for contempt since the description could
lower the esteem of the honourable members in the eyes of the average
citizen and bring them into opprobrium. But, these were stated by the
First Deputy Speaker at the launch of the African Parliamentary
Poverty Reduction Network in Tamale.

As the sole representative of the Convention People's Party (CPP) in
Parliament, Honourable Freddie Blay has at one time or the other come
under acidic attacks from his party members and supporters for taking
certain positions on government policy which he considers to be of
national importance but which the CPP considers as a sell-out of the
sovereignty of the people of Ghana.

Only recently, Dr Edward Mahama bemoaned the tragedy of his party as
its MPs have tended to ignore the position of their party when it
comes to certain government policies.

In the case of the National Democratic Congress, now and then, you
hear some of their MPs coming under attack for saying certain things
that are complimentary of the government.

On the issue of parliamentary boycott to register a point or state a
cause, when the New Patriotic Party was in the minority, its MPs
resorted to it and each time they did, their friends in the majority
NDC laughed at them for not appreciating the value of democratic
debate.

Since the tables turned and the NDC became the minority, anytime that
they have boycotted proceedings in Parliament, they have been mocked
by the NPP majority.

Only recently, during discussions on the draft bill on Freedom of
Information, an MP said when his party was in government he felt that
the exemptions were too many but now that his party is in the
minority he feels that the exemptions are too few. What is it that
makes for such extremities although the facts remain the same. That
is where some people suspect that there might be something
fundamentally wrong with party politics.

<B>We must begin to appreciate the fact that the problem does not lie
with party politics, but our understanding of what must be done with
power and authority in a multiparty setting. Often, MPs are coerced
or encouraged to toe uninformed party line on every matter that comes
up for debate. We the people who criticise or applaud them for what
they do, indirectly sacrifice the national cause.

Until we change such negative attitudes and allow our
parliamentarians to act objectively and seek the best interest of all
rather than our individual parties, provisions such as "laws that are
reasonably required in the interest of national security, public
order, public morality and for the purposes of protecting
reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons" will remain
meaningless mirages and illusions.

We as a people, through our Parliament and elected representatives,
often fail in coming to a common understanding of how to define these
concepts because of our partisan interests.

We need to change our attitude towards MPs who act objectively and
independently in the interest of national cohesion, unity and
democracy; otherwise, no meaningful or functional solution will be
found to the challenge of how parliamentarians would discharge their
responsibility to advance the cause and course of democracy.</B>

Copyright © 2000/2001 Graphic Communications Group Limited




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QUOTATION:

"All of us may not live to see the higher accomplishments of an African
empire, so strong and powerful as to compel the respect of mankind, but we
in our lifetime can so work and act as to make the dream a possibility
within another generation"
-<html><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion/afrohero.html">Ancestor
Marcus Mosiah Garvey <i>(1887 - 1940)</i></A></html>

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