Minority's Walk Out Spared Us Their Nuisance...It Was An Act Of God

While numerous Members of Parliament from the Majority side of Parliament have condemned the walkout �action� by the Minority caucus, a former Presidential Staffer and a leading member of the ruling party is rather full of commendation for their decision albeit cynically; he feels the boycott �spared the country of insults and unnecessary noise� associated with the Minority. Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, the NDC MP for Odododiodio constituency is of the view that the boycott of President John Dramani Mahama's State of the Nation Address was an act of God. According to him, had the Minority partaken in the event, they would have disrupted the smooth and peaceful nature of the President�s address. President Mahama delivered his first State of the Nation�s Address in Parliament on Thursday and as an act of being consistent with their boycott of every event or function that will endorse the legitimacy of President Mahama, the Minority made up of mostly members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), walked out of Parliament minutes before the President entered to give his address. Before staging the walkout, the MPs displayed leaflets with inscription �stealers�, apparently keeping faith with their avowed belief that the 2012 presidential election was stolen for President Mahama, candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). However, while the NPP MPs were walking out of the House�s chamber, their NDC counterparts also created a different spectacle, as they hooted at their colleagues, shouting, �Shame, shame�. The NDC MPs had to fill some of the empty seats left by NPP members before President Mahama took the stage to deliver the state-of-the-nation address in accordance with Article 67 of the constitution. Contributing to discussions on Metro TV�s Good Morning Ghana programme, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye said: �It was an act of God to spare Ghanaians the nuisance aspect of the minority when the state of the Nation�s Address was being delivered. At least yesterday, we had a very congenial, conducive, intellectual atmosphere to absorb and assimilate the presentation of the President. He opined that due to the absence of the minority, Ghanaians were able to understand everything President Mahama said. �We would have seen sights of unnecessary heckling, direct insults, habitual noises that will take everything out of the delivery of the President. God gave Ghanaians the opportunity to listen to the president and listen to him attentively and understand. Yesterday, I thank God for President Mahama that he was spared that unnecessary noisy environment by our brothers�� he uttered.