The move made by the NDC leadership was seen by the 77 opposition MPs as a step in the right direction, according to Komla Klutse, Parliamentary Correspondent for TV3.
This action came shortly after 48 other NDC MPs signed a petition against the party’s changes to the Minority leadership.
Komla added that the MPs opposed to the revisions think the decision is controversial and want it to be overturned.
According to Komla, the MPs have convened a special session of Parliament at which Asiedu Nketia, the National Chairman, and Fifi Kwetey, the General Secretary, would be present.
A few NDC lawmakers, including Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, voiced dismay at the party’s plan to restructure its parliamentary leadership.
Haruna Iddrisu, the representative for Tamale South, was replaced as minority leader on Tuesday, January 24, by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the member of parliament for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah of Ellembelle takes over for James Klutse Avedzi in that position as well.
Tamale Central MP said there was no consultation whatsoever with the caucus before the release.
“Every single Member of Parliament is surprised,” he said, “And I can tell you that even those who have been proposed to take leadership, some of them are surprised that such a proposal is made without even consulting them.”
He condemned the mode of communication, saying as an MP he got wind of the decision on social media like many other NDC MPs.
“That is not how things are done,” he fumed.
“The NDC is a democratic party. We have touted ourselves as the pacesetters of this democracy. The NDC gave birth to the 1992 Constitution for which reason we have all collectively agreed to chart the path of democracy.”
He said that the NDC should be the last to reject democratic principles and that doing so without engaging the group or caucus reeks of disrespect in his eyes.
The former Nanton MP claimed that his involvement in the Sixth and even the Eighth Parliaments has convinced him that the party’s leadership and caucus actively discuss one another before making such decisions.
“How do you choose leaders for a group without consulting that group?” he wondered.
“Who told you that the group will be comfortable with the people you have chosen? Now if the group were not comfortable with the people you have chosen, then that will be the beginning of a failure of that particular leadership.”
He told TV3’s Komla Kluste in an interview that “I am flabbergastered, the news hit me because it is one of the last news I am expecting at this time, and so I am surprised.
“It took me a long time to really appreciate the news because normally, the national executives will engage the leadership of Parliament and if leadership thinks the engagements, they can’t get to a consultation, they meet the whole caucus and so, I can count countless engagements between the caucus and the national executives on all issues.
“There are issues when they come up, leadership thinks let us take some advice from the national executives and then they give the direction. So one would have thought that if there is going to be a shake-up like this, there would have been some engagements and that engagement would have watered down the shock and surprise
“You will know there is going to be some changes here and there and then people will make inputs and suggestions but this was not done and I will like to know what went into this thinking, I will want some explanations, that will give all of us reasons to support it. ”
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the decision was taken based on the current trend of debate on national issues.
“The debates and the other discussions will focus on the economy so you need to put your best man in the economy forward, that is what we have done,” he told Accra-based Joy FM.
“We also looked at energy. These petroleum and electricity challenges and so we needed to settle on Kofi-Armah Buah, our former Energy Minister to be the Deputy Minority Leader and then the other area is infrastructure, Kwame Agbodza being our man in infrastructure should play a key role. So that generally is what informed the changes.”
