National Assembly Speaker Alban Bagbin has expressed deep concern over the loss of a significant number of incumbent MPs in the primaries of both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In the recent NPP primary held on January 27 last year, a significant number of incumbent MPs (28) lost their candidacy, while 17 MPs lost their candidacy in last year’s NDC primary.
Furthermore, ahead of the NPP primaries, 19 incumbent MPs chose not to seek re-election, and five NDC MPs made a similar decision last year.
Bagbin stressed that the defection of a large number of parliamentarians means a significant loss of investment in parliamentarians, which is harmful to the country.
The Speaker welcomed the members of the House of Representatives, noting that this was not a good signal for the enactment of legislation for the democratic development of Ghana.
“As we all know, experience matters in this Parliament, but so does the support of the contesting parties. However, Members, the hemorrhage and cost to the nation must be considered by all stakeholders. This is a serious concern worth doing.”
“Honorable Members, primaries are part of the process by which voters decide their representatives in Congress. However, elections on the 17th and 28th were held following voluntary cancellations on the 5th and 19th. “This does not bode well for the bill and for Ghana’s democratic development,” he said.
He urged political parties to address the issue internally and highlighted the impact of losing experienced MPs after just one term.
Also read: NPP parliamentary primaries: Full list of unsuccessful incumbents
“I would like to appeal to political parties to take this issue seriously, because the investments made in individual members of parliament are very large for the country and are always wasted every four years,” he said.
Meanwhile, Majority Party Leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has also appealed to political parties to review their internal election systems in order to protect some incumbent members.
He believes that the processes and procedures by which political parties select candidates affect the efficiency and effectiveness of parliamentary business operations. He added: “This will ultimately affect apartment growth and democracy in this country.”
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