You’re Not Imperial President To Elect Bagbin As Speaker — Prof. Prempeh Tackles Mahama
The Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana), Prof H. Kwasi Prempeh, has said it is wrong for President-elect John Dramani Mahama to elect Alban Bagbin as his choice of Speaker for the 9th Parliament.
He said the act portrayed Mr Mahama as an imperial president, which has no place in Ghana’s constitutional democracy.
On Sunday, January 4, Mr Mahama in a press release issued by his office, directed the Parliamentary Leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to nominate Bagbin as Speaker of the 9th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
Counterproductive
But, reacting to the President-elect’s directive, Prof. Prempeh stated, “We must not entrench the impression or practice in the 4th Republic where the Speaker is seen as a nominee of the President, as this press release implies. “This is one of the legacies and features of our Imperial Presidency that further subordinates the Legislature to the Executive. We should move away from that.“
Constitutional duty
He explained that choosing a Speaker of Parliament is a constitutional duty and prerogative of the Members of Parliament of an incoming Parliament through voting individually by sacret ballot. “It is to be expected that the President, being head of Government, would have a strong interest and influence in the choice of Speaker, as the occupant of the Speaker’s chair must work closely with the President and his Ministers to ensure the smooth running of government.
“In particular, where, as in the incoming Parliament, the party of the President also controls an overwhelming majority of the seats in Parliament, the President’s preference for Speaker should be expected to carry great weight in the MPs’ decision. So, there is nothing wrong for the President to publicly express and indicate his preference for Speaker and to urge or admonish his party MPs to vote to elect his preferred choice for Speaker.”
However he disagreed with the President-elect electing to choose the candidate of a Speaker.
Proper thing
He said it would have been more proper if the attached letter read , “The Members of Parliament-elect of the National Democratic Congress, [having consulted with the National Executive of the Party], have agreed collectively to support the nomination and re-election of the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Badgin, Speaker of the 8th Parliament, as Speaker of the 9th Parliament.”
He added: “The President-elect can then freely announce his endorsement of this choice. But for the President-elect to ‘mandate’? What is that!!!“
Prof. Prempeh indicated that what is worth doing is worth doing properly.
