You still need us even if you call us names – Minority to Majority

The Minority Leader Haruna Iddriosu has told the Majority in Parliament and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that they will still need the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmakers to get their policies through in parliament despite name-calling.

He revealed on the New Day show on TV3 with Johnnie Hughes on Tuesday January 25 that the opposition lawmakers have been subjected to vilification and intimidation following their objection to some of the policy proposals of this government including the E-levy.

The Tamale South Member of Parliament added “They need us, even if they call us names they need us.”

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has also told Members of Parliament that the only way out in getting things done in the House is through dialogue and consultation.

He also called for more cooperation and collaboration among lawmakers given the entire nature of the 8th Parliament where the two major parties control 137-137 seats each with an Independent Lawmaker.

“The only way is to get the two sides to consult and to dialogue with each other, to cooperate, to compromise, to collaborate to achieve consensus, this is an imperative imposed on us political leaders by the people of Ghana, we have no choice,” he said.

Mr Bagbin said these while speaking at this year’s Commonwealth Parliamentary Association workshop.

His comments come con the heels of the division in Parliament regarding the E-levy proposal in the 2022 budget statement.

The Minority in Parliament rejected the proposal. Their Leader Haruna Iddrisu said the E-levy policy was a disincentive to the growth of digital economy.

To that end, he said, the Minority would not support it.

Speaking at a post budget workshop in Ho on Saturday November 20, he said “Mr Speaker, understandably, we see that the Minister of Finance seeks to introduce some measures including the now popularly declared e-levy or digital levy  as some have quite named it.

“Mr Speaker, our concern is whether the e-levy itself is not and will not be a disincentive to the growth of digital economy in our country . We are convinced that the e-levy may as well even be a disincentive to investment  and a disincentive to private sector development in our country. We in the minority may not and will not support government  with the introduction of that particular e-levy . We are unable to build national consensus  on that particular matter.”