The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has asked the majority caucus to seek guidance from the party's national leadership before taking any decision to change its leadership.
He told the caucus that they don't have the authority to independently appoint its leaders without further consultation.
His comment follows rumours that the majority caucus is planning to change its leadership
“I have heard, listened and I know that the parties are having problems with this new definition of the new leaders, that is only where this confusion is coming from. The old order refers to party or parties, but this new one does not refer to a party but caucuses."
“The old order defines the majority leader to mean a member of parliament designated by the party or parties holding the majority of the seats as their recognized leader in the house. Now this new order says designate means appoints."
“The same standing orders talk about the majority caucus, and it says majority caucus means the members of the party or parties that have the largest number of seats. I don’t see the difference, the caucus is the party wing. That is the wing of the party in parliament."
“You cannot be talking about appointing or designating your leaders without the party leading the process. I don’t understand that, it’s the same definition here.” the speaker clarifies
Alban Bagbin, however, urged MPs who disagreed with his stance to seek legal action.
“It’s a matter that I will come out with a written reason for this House, but in the meantime, this is the position of the speaker. And I do so under the same standing orders, where there’s a doubt, it’s the speaker’s opinion that prevails."
“Anybody that disagrees with that, you have your front to proceed to the proper venue to contest my opinion. You come on the ticket of the party, and to appoint your leader, the party must lead the process. If you disagree with me, you proceed to the courts to get it changed. But as of now, this is binding on all of you. I don’t know how you can do that without the party or parties.”
