Former Kumbungu Member of Parliament (MP), Ras Mubarak, has intimated that, where the majority or minority sits in parliament does not matter.
Speaking during a discussion, he explained that, the trend of the majority siting on the right and the minority sitting on the left, is an inherited relic of colonization.
“Should it really matter who sits where? Because you see this is one of the relics of colonization we have inherited. We currently have a situation at hand where the number in parliament are not that clear cut as to who has the majority and minority in parliament.
“It is exceedingly crucial that, consensus are built, it is exceedingly crucial that, fences are mended and in doing that, I do not think NPP should have taken the kind of position that they are taking, very very entrenched.”
Mr. Mubarak said, the NPP’s stand to sit on the right side of the speaker, erodes every opportunity to put all the cards on the table and actually put on the table the interest of the people.
“If you are not careful you are going to have gridlocks, if we are not careful, things are going to come to a halt and we will spend so much time and energy discussing who sits where.”
He further suggested that, going forward, the nation needs to be looking at ways to advance in its democracy.
Touching on the standing orders of parliament, he called for the amendment because he said he believes some have outlived their purpose adding that the calls for amendment to be made is to ensure its efficiency.
On the issue of the Speaker of Parliament and his expected work, Mr. Mubarak posited that, the Speaker of Parliament is the best person in position to steer the affairs of parliament adding that he is looking forward to the activities of the 8th Parliament.
“With his leadership, I am very confident that parliament will do things anew, I am confident that parliament will be the actual parliament we yearn for.”
He also added that, the speaker having the over bearing power in the house will be a thing of the past.
Dr. Rasheed Draman, Executive Director, ACEPA also speaking said, the amendment of the standing order has been in talks in parliament for a very long time urging that, now is the time the parliament should work on amending the orders.
He also mentioned that, at the end of the day there is going to be some consensus with regards to solving issues placed before the speaker and urged that, the nation moves beyond such tension.
Additionally, Dr.Draman averred that, the new speaker is best person on the position to fix such issues.
He said, he expects the speaker to secure cross party agreement on issues and also ensure that the rights of the MP’s are protected.
“I believe that, with his experience, he will have the parliament at heart… and he will have the interest of the people.”
He also iterated the fact that the standing order was flawed with many issues and called for it to be looked at.
