The Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has claimed in a media interview that the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo, has lost his command over the majority caucus in parliament.
The member of Parliament for Ajumako Enyan Essiam Constituency asserted that the President has been completely ignored by people who were once his staunch supporters largely because of disagreements some Members had with him on the passage of the e-levy and his decision to retain the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta.
He also stated that Members of Parliament supporting the Vice President have increased sharply since he was elected as flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He argued that the shift is a clear indication of the President’s ‘weakening influence’ in his party.
“It won’t be like yesterday. That is why even the Vice President himself went and criticized the President’s policies and all of that. He is the President of Ghana but within his party, he is lame. He is gone. Loyalty has moved and he is not in charge and I see that every day.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
He added that he would have doubted it if someone had told him two years ago, that the President, Nana Akufo-Addo would be so ‘weak’ in his political party and that he would not get the support of the Majority Caucus in passing or opposing some very basic legislations.
The Minority Leader, speaking on the position of President Akufo-Addo on the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill before Parliament said that the bill has undergone all relevant stages, and is currently being cross-checked to ensure that all adopted suggestions during the consideration stage are appropriately included in the final bill.
Parliament To Pass LGBTQ+ Bill By Friday
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson revealed that the much-talked-about Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill would be passed by Friday.
He stressed that the initial bill introduced on the floor of the house was subjected to serious scrutiny at the consideration stage, and the clerks of parliament are now working to ensure the proposed amendments are incorporated in the final bill to be presented to the President.
He anticipates that the Clerks will complete their work on the bill by Thursday for the speaker to ‘finally put the question after the third reading’ for Members of Parliament to cast their votes.
“It has been here for three years and we’re still debating it. We’ve finished the consideration. What is left is the third reading and after that, the Speaker will put the question and those in favour will say ‘yes’ and those against will say ‘no’. But I’ve not seen any MP against this bill and the people of Ghana are strongly in favour of this bill. The Afrobarometer shows that 90% of Ghanaians are in favour.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson was confident that Ghana would have a bill called the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill by the weekend.
When questioned about the consequences the country is likely to face when the bill is finally passed, the Minority Leader in Parliament said that the bill was conceived by the people of Ghana and parliamentarians, as representatives of the people, are only ensuring that the desires of the people are realized through legislation.
He recognized the prerogative of the President to not approve the bill to become law but was quick to stress that Parliament will use its two-thirds majority to ensure that the bill becomes law.
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the LGBTQ+ Bill, is a private member bill sponsored by Samuel Nartey George, Rockson Dafeamekpor, and some other Members of Parliament to prohibit sexually related activities—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer—which are against Ghanaian cultural values.
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