Parliament has had to adjourn sitting after just 30 minutes into the session due to absence of key members and ministers to move several motions listed for consideration.
This is coming just a day after Parliament reconvened from its three-month recess.
Majority Leader Alban Bagbin who moved for the adjournment blamed it on circumstances beyond his control.
The absenteeism which has stalled work in the House is as result of preparations towards the governing party’s parliamentary primaries.
The National Democratic Congress has fixed November 7 for its primaries for the presidential and parliamentary aspirants. Most of the MPs on the Majority side who are seeking re-election have been embroiled in intensive campaign in their respective constituencies.
Majority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak admitted Parliament has “a very big challenge” at hand to deal with.
About 120 MPs are “fiercely being contested”; he said this has put extra pressure on him to get them to attend to business of the house. Their opponents are on the field campaigning vigorously to unseat them.
Muntaka Mubarak was resigned to the fact that next week's primaries will affect business of the house. “We may not have the full business running,” he acknowledged, but said they are “still negotiating” with the Speaker of the House “to bear with us” to get some businesses running.
The MPs caught in the primaries fever may have to learn how to “strike the balance” he suggested, because, they cannot abandon the business of the house completely to campaign in their constituencies.
Desserted parliamentary sittings are often a prelude to parliamentary primaries in both sides of the House.
Lat June, the 275-member Parliament was almost empty as Minority MPs left to their various constituencies to campaign for re-election.
<<Print>>