The substantial number of sitting Members who lost their seats in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) primaries has deeply concerned Speaker of the Parliament Alban Bagbin.
While 17 MPs lost their candidacies in the NDC primaries last year, a sizable number of sitting MPs (28 in total) were defeated in the recent NPP primaries held on January 27.
Moreover, before the NPP primaries, nineteen sitting MPs made the decision not to run for reelection, and five NDC MPs did the same last year.
Mr Bagbin emphasized that the country would suffer from the significant loss of investment that the many MPs’ departures represent these lawmakers.
The Speaker said that this is not a good sign for legislation for Ghana’s democratic development during his welcome address to the members of the house.
As we all know, experience is valuable in this house, but your party’s endorsement to run for office is just as significant. Honourable members, all parties involved should take serious concern over the damage and expense to the country.
“Honorable members, the electoral process includes primaries to decide who will represent the people in parliament. But he pointed out that “this election of 17 and 28 after the voluntary discontinuance of 5 and 19 is not a good signal for the legislation and Ghana’s democratic development.”
“I want to appeal to the political parties to take this matter seriously because the investment that is made in an individual MP is so huge for the nation just to always go waste after every four years,” stated the Speaker.
To safeguard certain incumbent Members of Parliament, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is also pleading with political parties to examine their internal election procedures.
According to him, the methods and processes used by political parties to choose their nominees have an impact on how effectively and efficiently the parliament runs its operations. “This eventually impacts the growth of apartment and democracy of the country,” he continued.
