Ato Forson urges Bagbin to reject Afenyo-Markin’s request to recall Parliament

The Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has pleaded with the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to reject a call by the Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin to recall the House.

He says that this is the fourth time in 2024 alone that the NPP parliamentary caucus is requesting an urgent recall of Parliament.

At each of the previous urgent meetings, he said, many of the businesses stated as “so-called” urgent Government Business were abandoned.

The House was adjourned indefinitely on November 7, when Speaker Bagbin suspended proceedings due to the absence of a prepared agenda from the Business Committee.

Alexander Afenyo-Markin later urged Speaker Bagbin to exercise his constitutional mandate under Standing Orders 57(3) and 58(4) to reconvene Parliament to address the outstanding business of the House.

In a memo to the speaker, Dr Ato Forson said that “Rt. Hon. Speaker, the petitioner’s request is premised on an appeal to you to exercise your discretion to recall Parliament to consider what they have termed “high priority” government business. They proceeded to enumerate the said businesses.

“Respectfully, Mr. Speaker, we wish to submit that based on the petitioner’s own request, you are not obliged to recall Parliament. Further, the petitioner has not demonstrated that there is any emergency nor urgent government business to warrant a recall of Parliament, with barely eleven (11) remaining days to the crucial 2024 General Election.”