The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has refuted claims that he said he is more powerful than the President.
He said he never made those utterances being attributed to him by some quarters.
Speaking during a meeting with the management of Media General in Accra on Thursday, June 29, he clarified what he said which in his view, has been misconstrued.
He explained it is easier to remove a president by impeachment which requires two-thirds of the Members of Parliament to do than to remove a Speaker of Parliament which requires three-quarters.
Mr Bagbin said “Sometimes the temperature in Parliament is rising and you see that I bring a joke to defuse it then they lough for us to go and start again. There are some of the scales that you have to use particularly for a hung parliament like this where nobody is for you.
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“The NDC my party, expect me to lean in favour of them but I don’t do so, so they are angry with me. The NPP see me as an opponent and they think that I am always opposing them. Sometimes, I give things in their favour and they are happy, the next day I give against them they tell me that they are in government but I tell them to go and read the definition of government in the Constitution.
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“Government is the president in our constitution. The body in which it resides is executive authority and the executive authority is exercised only by the president, he can delegate it to his ministers but it resides with him, so the government in Ghana is the president, I am not part of that.
“The President is not higher than me, we are equal partners, it is only protocol that you have to mention God the Father before you go to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
“That doesn’t mean that God the Father is higher than God the Holy Spirit and so our system or concept is that, and I have said it a number of times and people say that I am more powerful than the president, no, I have never said that, the concept is that it is easier to remove a president by the impeachment of two-thirds of the Members of Parliament than to remove a speaker which is three-quarters, which is more difficult, that is what is in our constitution.”
Regarding Mr Bagbin’s visit to Media Genera, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the media conglomerate Beatrice Agyemang welcomed Mr Bagbin to the premises at Adseawa Kanda, Accra.
She explained the functions of the various units within the company. This is the first time a Speaker of Parliament has visited Media General, she said.
“TV3 is number 1 in the ranking, ” Madam Agyeman told the Speaker
She added “we have a strong editorial committee to ensure that we are very balanced transparent and fair in our reportage, every news item you see goes through scrutiny.”
“I am hoping that this is the beginning of a good relationship,” she stressed.
SOURCE: 3news.com
