We have repositioned ourselves to handle hung parliament better if it happens again – Bagbin

The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has said that lessons have been learned to handle hung parliament better if it happens again.

Currently, the Governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have equal numbers in the House 137-137 seats each, then an independent lawmaker who does business with the NPP lawmakers.

Speaker Bagbin states that rules that were for a majoritarian system would no longer be in a hung parliament.The Speaker said this when he launched the Democracy Cup, a historic initiative marking three decades of parliamentary democracy in Ghana.

He said “I am proud to say that I am happy to be part of this democratic process of building the parliament of Ghana from 1993 which has no doubt contributed significantly to enable me to assume the onerous responsibility as speaker of the first-even hung parliament in Ghana.

“You can’t compare this parliament to the others, this is a completely new game, even if it happens we have now repositioned ourselves to be able to handle it better. We are applying rules that were for a majoritarian system, we definitely have to vote and the majority will carry the day, so those rules were for that.

“Now you are running a parliament where there is no majority so you can’t apply those rules again. You had a parliament that was seen as just part of the public service or government agencies, you have been told that these our illustrious presidents all happened to have passed through my hands.“There is no way that anybody can push me aside and make parliament an agent of government, it won’t happen when I am alive.”

The Speaker also urged the occasion to tell the Electoral Commission to ensure a free, fair, and credible electoral process.