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Boycott of
Parliament is constitutional - NDC
Accra, Feb. 14, GNA - The minority National Democratic
Congress (NDC) on Wednesday said their boycott of Parliament
was to show their loyalty to the Party.
Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, General Secretary of the Party,
told press conference in Accra that the 1992 Constitution
also states that no one should be disloyal to the party.
He said neither the president nor anybody could be disloyal
to a party and continue to belong to it.
"Immediately anybody decides to abandon his/her party,
his/her seat becomes vacant," Mr Asiedu-Nketiah told the
press conference, attended by party stalwarts including
Professor John Evans Atta Mills, the party's flag-bearer for
the 2008 elections.
The NDC press conference, chiefly addressed by Mr Alban
Bagbin, Minority Leader in Parliament, was in reaction to
the State of the Nation address presented by President John
Agyekum Kufuor to Parliament on February 8.
In his address, President Kufuor asked NDC MPs to reconsider
their boycott and return to the House to play their part to
uphold the integrity of parliament.
The NDC MPs were not in Parliament last Thursday when the
President presented the State of the Nation address to
Parliament.
The NDC has been boycotting Parliament since February 6 in
solidarity with Mr Dan Abodakpi, MP for Keta and Former
Minister of Trade and Industry who has been jailed for 10
years by an Accra Fast Track High Court for causing
financial loss to the state.
Mr Asiedu-Nketiah said even if the boycott took several days
or years, the NDC would ensure that justice was done.
"We should not be looking at the role of Parliamentarians as
only representing their constituencies, but the entire
totality of Ghanaians," he said.
Mr Alban Bagbin said the party was yet to take a decision on
when to return to the House and asked Ghanaians not to allow
mischief to poison their understanding of multi-party
democracy.
"We don't operate independently from our party," he said,
adding that the argument that the MPs who had been
boycotting parliament should not be paid their salaries
showed “a serious ignorance".
Mr Bagbin said no law prevented MPs from boycotting
Parliament and the party had the instrument of appeal,
boycott and demonstrations to ensure that justice was done.
"They are necessary in this particular situation," Mr Bagbin
said.
According to Mr Bagbin, the trial of Mr Abodakpi was
initiated by the President himself and instead of using the
Auditor-General as provided by the constitutional to vet the
books of Mr Abodakpi, a private accounting firm, Baafour
Awuah and Company, who he alleged were party members,
reviewed those accounts.
The NDC also accused the Government of manipulating the
judiciary in the handling of the case of Mr Abodakpi.
Mr Bagbin referred to the absence of Mr Eric Amoateng,
former MP for Nkoranza North, who resigned last week as MP,
saying that he (Amoateng) was absent from Parliament for
more than a year but received all his emoluments.
Amoateng has since November 2005, 2005 been held by a US
court for alleged drugs deals.
Dr Benjamin Bewa-Nyong Kumbuor, NDC Ranking Member on
Defence, said some MPs in the ruling New Patriotic Party had
by statements attributed to them consistently provoked the
NDC in Parliament and the press.
Dr Kumbuor said it was irresponsible to allege that the
boycott had been due to outside influence and asked if the
contraction of the CNCTCI and the IFC loans were not
contracted by them through outside influence.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu, MP for Tamale South, said the NDC would
continue to demand accountability from the ruling NPP.
GNA
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